Question: A bowling ball of mass M = 6kg is rolling down a hallway at 1.5m/s. (see Fig.) If it rolled straight, it would hit an associate dean of students D standing at the end of the hall. You are standing at point U, 10m from the end of the hall, and you intervene heroically by giving the ball a sideways kick as it passes you so that the ball rolls into the corner C instead of hitting D.
Fig. - Ball rolling down a hallway towards D is deflected at point U so as to hit C instead
a. What must be the angle of deflection θ at point U if the ball is to hit C instead of D?
b. How much sideways momentum Δpy must you give the ball to produce the desired deflection?
c. Explain the parallels between this problem and one of the experiments described in this chapter.