A 4.10 g bullet moving at 837 m/s strikes a 820 g wooden block at rest on a frictionless surface. The bullet emerges, traveling in the same direction with its speed reduced to 467 m/s. (a) What is the resulting speed of the block? (b) What is the speed of the bullet-block center of mass?

(a) 1.85 m/s

(b) 4.1 m/s

Explanation:

Data

(a) From the conservation of momentum:

Mb*Vbi + Mw*Vwi = Mb*Vbf + Mw*Vwf

Mb*(Vbi - Vbf)/Mw = Vwf

4.1*(837 - 467)/820 = Vwf

Vwf = 1.85 m/s

(b) The speed of the center of mass speed is calculated as follows:

V = Mb/(Mb + Mw) * Vbi

V = 4.1/(4.1 + 820) * 837

V = 4.1 m/s

answer: the correct answer is 1.

explanation: there are various process in which a radioactive nuclei decays:

1) alpha decay: in this process, a heavier nuclei decays into lighter nuclei by releasing alpha particle. the mass number is reduced by 4 units.

2) electron capture: in this decay process, a parent nuclei absorbs an electron and gets converted into a neutron. simply, a proton and an electron combines together to form a neutron. mass number does not change in this process.

3) gamma ray emission: it is a decay process in which an unstable nuclei gives excess energy by a spontaneous electromagnetic process. this decay releases . this process does not change the mass number.

4) positron emission: it is a type of decay process, in which a proton gets converted to neutron and an electron neutrino. this is also known as -decay. in this the mass number remains same.

from the above information, we see that only alpha-decay is producing a change in the mass number of the nucleus.