HELP!!!A pitcher throws a 0.5kg ball of clay at a 6kg block of wood. The clay sticks to the wood on impact and their joint velocity afterwards is 3m/s. What is the original speed of the clay? I know the answer is 39m/s but I have no idea how they come up with that

Answer 1

conservation of momentum
initialmomentum=final
.5*V=(.5+6)3
solve for V