The recoil velocity of cannon is (4) 5.0 m/s
Explanation:
We can find the recoil velocity from the law of conservation of momentum.
The recoil velocity is velocity of body 2 after release of body 1, i.e. velocity of cannon after release of clown.
Let v2 be cannon's velocity, v1 be clown's velocity given = 15 m/sec
m1 be clown's mass = 100kg and m2 be cannon's mass given = 500kg.
So recoil velocity of cannon v2 is given by,
v2 = -(m1÷m2)v1
v2 = -(100÷500)15
v2 = -5 m/s
where the minus sign refers to the direction of cannon's recoil velocity being opposite to that of clown.
Hence, option (4)5.0 m/s is the correct answer.