In Paul Hewitt's book, he poses this question: "If the forces that act on a bullet and the recoiling gun from which it is fired are equal in magnitude, why do the bullet and gun have very different accelerations?" Think about Newton's Second Law (F = ma) and answer his question.

Question

yadu123 · Answer

i know the mass of the bullet is less than the gun an that affects it but i dont  know how

irishboy123 · Answer

$F = m_{bullet} \times a_{bullet} = m_{gun} \times a_{gun}$.  

If $m_{gun} > m_{bullet}, \ then ..... $????

yadu123 · Answer

the force remains constant

yadu123 · Answer

ok i get it

yadu123 · Answer

gotta go

irishboy123 · Answer

not really

it's Newton's first law.  to every action there is an equal an opposite reaction

so just as the gun propels the bullet towards its target, the bullet pushes back on the gun - creating "the recoil", as it is called

but because the bullet is much lighter, it goes off like billy-o, whereas the gun just recoils a bit in the hands of its holder.

yadu123 · Answer

oh ok

irishboy123 · Answer

sorry, Newton's **Third** Law ;p action and reaction.