Question

A 75-g bullet is fired from a rifle having a barrel 0.540 m long. choose the origin to be at the location where the bullet begins to move. then the force (in newtons) exerted by the expanding gas on the bullet is 16000 10000x - 26000x2, where x is in meters. (a) determine the work done by the gas on the bullet as the bullet travels the length of the barrel. (enter your answer to at least two decimal places.) 8.73 kj (b) if the barrel is 0.95 m long, how much work is done

Answer 1

Part a) The work done by the gas on the bullet is the integral of the force in dx, where x is the distance covered by the bullet inside the barrel with respect to the origin:
$W= \int\limits^{0.540m}_{0} {F} \, dx = \int\limits^{0.540m}_{0} {(16000+10000x-26000x^2)} \, dx =$
$=16000x+10000 \frac{x^2}{2} - 26000 \frac{x^3}{3}$
By substituting the length of the barrel, L=0.540 m, we find the total work done by the gas on the bullet:
$W=16000(0.540m)+10000 \frac{(0.540m)^2}{2} - 26000 \frac{(0.540m)^3}{3} =$
$=8733 J=8.73 kJ$

part b) The resolution of the problem is the same, we just have to use the new length of the barrel (L=0.95 m) inside the final formula, and we find the new value of the work:
$W=16000(0.95m)+10000 \frac{(0.95m)^2}{2} - 26000 \frac{(0.95m)^3}{3} =$
$=12280 J=12.28 kJ$