Question

A hammer of mass `500g`, moving at `50m//s`, strikes a nail. The nail stops the hammer in a very short time of `0.01 s`. What is the force of the nail on the hammer?

Answer 1

Here, Mass,m=500 g
`=500/1000Kg`
=0.5 kg
We will now calculate the acceleration.
Now, Initial velocity,`u=50 m1s^(-1)`
Final velocity,v = 0 (The hammer stops)
Acceleration, a= ? (To be calculated)
And, Time,t=0.01 s
Now, v=u+at
So, `0=50+axx0.01`
0.01a=-50
`a=-50/0.01`
`a=-5000ms^(-2)`
We know that : Force,F=m`xx`a
So, `F=0.5xx(-5000)N`
F=-2500 N
Thus, the force of the nail on the hammer is 2500 newtons. The negative sign indicates that this force is opposing motion.