Question

A cart moving at 10 m/s is brought to a stop by the force plotted in the force-time graph shown here. Find the impulse and the approximate mass of the cart. Show all work.

Answer 1

First impulse is given by:\[J=\int\limits_{t _{1}}^{t _{2}}Fdt\]If the force is constant over that time, dt, then the equation simplifies to:\[J=F(t _{2}-t _{1})\]where J is impulse; F is force, t2 is the ending time and t1 is the beginning time. Note that impulse is also given by:\[J=m \Delta v=mv _{2}-mv _{1}\]where m is mass; v2 is the final velocity; and v1 is the initial velocity.

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