An animal-rescue plane flying due east at

40 m/s drops a bale of hay from an altitude of 73 m .
The acceleration due to gravity is
9.81 m/s^2.
If the bale of hay weighs 177 N , what is the momentum of the bale the moment it strikes the ground?
Please help!

1 answer

The downward speed is v = √(2as) = 37.84
The total speed is thus √(37.84^2 + 40^2) = 55 m/s
The momentum is mv = 9735 kg-m/s