Physics: Calculate the average force of particles colliding with a wall
What is the average force associated with 100 * 10^6 particles, each of a mass 8.280912E-06 Kg, colliding elastically with a wall at a velocity of 102.1 m/s, with directions randomly distributed in 3 dimensions? Assume that the wall is one of the parallel walls of a cylinder with the walls separated by 3 meters.
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Solution Preview
First, an elastic collision means that the change in momentum of the particle. If you recall, force is the change in momentum over time:
F = delta(p)/delta(t)
Also, since the transfer of momentum is perpendicular to the wall, we would only need to deal with the component of velocity perpendicular to the wall (which I will call v_x). When a particle bounces off the wall, this component of the velocity would be equal and opposite in sign because of the elastic ...
Solution Summary
The solution is very detailed with good explanations and computations. It calculates the average force of particles colliding with a wall.