Question
A gun of mass 100 kg fires a shell of mass 0.020 kg. If the muzzle speed of the shell is 80 m/s, then find the recoil speed of the gun.
Solution
Here,
Mass of shell = m = 0.020 kg
Mass of gun = M = 100 kg
Velocity of shell = u = 80 m/s
Let V be the velocity of gun.
According to the law of conservation of linear momentum,
mu + MV = 0
= -0.016 m/s
Negative sign means the gun recoils.
