A hammer of mass 500 g moving at ` 50ms ^(-1)`, strikes a nail. The nail stops the hammer in a very short time of 0.01 s. What is the force of the nail on the hammer ?

Explanation

Mass, m = 500 g
`= (500)/(1000) kg = 0.5 kg`
Initial velocity, `u = 50 ms^(-1)`
Final velocity, `v = 0ms^(-1)`
Time, t = 0.01 s
Acceleration, `a = (v-u)/(t)`
`a = ((50-0)ms^(-1))/(0.01s)`
`a = 5000 ms^(-2)`
Force, `F = m xx a`
`F = 0.5 kg xx 5000 ms^(-2)`
`= 2500 N`