| Re: golf ball It is not clear to me that the impact of the golf ball is perpendicular to the surface of the Bowling ball. If the impact is not perpendicular then the answer answer would be 'd', not enough info.
The statement does say that the golf ball bounces backward from the bowling ball, so if this means that the golf ball strikes the surface of the bowling ball perpendicularly then the answer would be b.
Momentum, Mass, and energy are all conserved. So in the initial state the momentum of the golf ball is +1, the momentum of the bowling ball is 0, and the momentum of the system is +1. When the golf ball impacts the bowling ball and decelerates to 0 velocity, it's momentum will be 0, and the momentum of the bowling ball will be +1, leaving the momentum of the system at +1. Because the Bowling ball is so massive compared to the golf ball it will then accelerate backward until its momentum aproaches -1. This will leave the bowling ball with a momentum of slightly less than +2, but the momentum of the entire system will still be +1 exactly. |