Question

A tennis ball with a speed of 26.9 m/s is

moving perpendicular to a wall. After striking
the wall, the ball rebounds in the opposite
direction with a speed of 16.409 m/s.
If the ball is in contact with the wall for
0.0158 s, what is the average acceleration of
the ball while it is in contact with the wall?
Take “toward the wall” to be the positive
direction.

Answer 1

Answer: To find the average acceleration of the tennis ball while it is in contact with the wall, we can use the equation:

average acceleration = (final velocity - initial velocity) / time

The initial velocity of the ball is 26.9 m/s (moving towards the wall), and the final velocity is -16.409 m/s (moving away from the wall).

Let's substitute the values into the equation:

average acceleration = (-16.409 m/s - 26.9 m/s) / 0.0158 s

Simplifying the equation:

average acceleration = (-43.309 m/s) / 0.0158 s

average acceleration ≈ -2744.17 m/s²

So, the average acceleration of the tennis ball while it is in contact with the wall is approximately -2744.17 m/s². The negative sign indicates that the acceleration is directed towards the wall.