Question

a rifle is used during the biathlon event in the Olympics the rifle has a mass of 2.5 kg the bullet has amass of 0.02 kg after that shot the bullet travels at a speed of 525 m/s what is the total momentum of the rifle bullet system before the bullet is shot?

Answer 1

Answer:

the momentum of the system must be ZERO just before the bullet is shot

Explanation:

As we know that initially the bullet is inside the gun with stationary condition

So here we can say that gun and bullet was both at rest initially

so we have

$P = m_1v_1 + m_2v_2$

since both are at rest so we have

$v_1 = v_2 = 0$

so total momentum of the system will be

$P = 0$

So the momentum of the system must be ZERO just before the bullet is shot

Answer 2

The momentum before is zero because nothing is moving. Note that because momentum is a conserved vector, the total momentum after the shot is also zero. You just have to add the products of mass and velocity in opposite directions. So the answer is zero