During a circus act, an elderly performer thrills the crowd by catching a cannon ball shot at him. The cannon ball has a mass of 26.0 kg and its horizontal component of velocity is 8.50 m/s just before the 65.0 kg performer catches it. If the performer is initially motionless on nearly frictionless roller skates, what is his speed immediately after catching the cannon ball

the velocity of the elderly performer after catching the cannon ball is 3.4 m/s.

Explanation:

mass of the cannon ball, m₁ = 26 kg

initial velocity of the cannon ball, u₁ = 8.5 m/s

mass of the elderly performer, m₂ = 65 kg

Let the velocity of the elderly performer after catching the cannon ball = u₂

Apply the principle of conservation of linear momentum to determine the velocity of the elderly performer after catching the cannon ball.

m₁u₁ = m₂u₂

Therefore, the velocity of the elderly performer after catching the cannon ball is 3.4 m/s.

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