Question

A 70kg soccer player, running at 10m/s kicks a 0.4kg ball, which travels at 50m/s. What is the momentum of (a) the player, and (b) the ball?

Answer 1

The momentum of the soccer player is 700 kg·m/s, and the momentum of the soccer ball is 20 kg·m/s. Momentum is calculated with the equation p = mv.

Step-by-step explanation:

Calculating Momentum of a Soccer Player and a Ball

The question involves calculating the momentum of both a soccer player and the soccer ball they kick. Momentum, a key concept in physics, is calculated using the equation p = mv, where p stands for momentum, m for mass, and v for velocity.

(a) For the soccer player, the mass m is 70 kg and the velocity v is 10 m/s. The momentum p of the player can be calculated as:

p_player = m * v = 70 kg * 10 m/s = 700 kg·m/s.

(b) For the ball, the mass m is 0.4 kg and the velocity v is 50 m/s. The momentum p of the ball is:

p_ball = m * v = 0.4 kg * 50 m/s = 20 kg·m/s.

By comparing the momenta, we can see that the player's momentum is considerably higher than that of the ball, due to the player's significantly greater mass.