Question

A bullet in motion hits and gets embedded in a solid resting on a frictionless table. Which physical quantity is conserved?

• A. Momentum and kinetic energy
• B. Momentum alone
• C. Kinetic energy alone
• D. Neither momentum nor kinetic energy

Answer 1

The correct option is B Momentum alone

When the bullet gets embedded in a solid resting on a frictionless table, only internal impulsive forces act and no external force acts on the system. Thus linear momentum of the system is conserved. Since this collision is inelastic in nature, so some kinetic energy is lost and thus kinetic energy is not conserved.