For a YouTube video, a son agrees to let his dad shoot an apple off his head with a crossbow. The mass of the arrow is 125 g. The mass of the apple is 101 g. Right before the arrow hits the apple, the arrow is traveling at 25.0 m/s horizontally. If the son is 1.85 m tall, how far behind the son did the arrow (stuck in the apple) land?

1 answer

momentum is conserved

.125 kg * 25.0 m/s = (.125 kg + .101 kg) * v

solve for the horizontal velocity (v) of the arrow/apple

the flight time of the arrow/apple is the time it takes to fall 1.85 m

1.85 = 1/2 g t^2 ... solve for the flight time (t)

the distance, behind the son, of the arrow/apple landing is ... v * t