Question

Movies and TV shows sometimes portray a person being thrown backwards a sizable distance as a result of being struck by a bullet. Calculate the maximum distance that a 79.2-kg object would fly backwards if it is struck by a 10.0-gram projectile moving with a velocity 368 m/s which then completely embeds itself in the object. Assume that the angle of this perfectly inelastic collision is such that the combined mass is launched at an angle of 45 degrees above the horizontal, and neglect the effects of air resistance. Based on this calculation, evaluate the realism (or lack thereof) of the TV/movie portrayal. Hint: This problem combines conservation of momentum (to analyze the collision) and projectile motion (to figure out how far the person would fly).

Answer 1