Asked by anon

A 17 g rifle bullet traveling 220 m/s buries itself in a 3.9 kg pendulum hanging on a 3.0 m long string, which makes the pendulum swing upward in an arc. Determine the vertical and horizontal components of the pendulum's displacement.

Horizantal ____ J
Vertical _____ J
Answered by bobpursley
Find the velocity at the time of impact from KE. Then, you can use conservation of momentum to find the penduluem/bullet combo at impact. From that, you know the KE of the combo, and it rises in height to have an increase in PE equaling the iniitial KE. At the max height, use geometry to find the angle it goes upwards.
Answered by jlemoine
bob, how can he solve for h if we don't know the initial height of the pendulum? we can't assume that's at zero.