Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago

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A ballistic pendulum is a device for measuring a bullet's momentum, from which it is possible to calculate the bullet's velocity and kinetic energy. In this video I will go through the three steps that can be used to determine the velocity of a bullet just before it collides with the ballistic pendulum.

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Chapters:
0:00 Ballistic Pendulums, An Explanation
0:40 Step 1, Determine the change in height of the ballistic pendulum
3:30 Step 2, Conservation of momentum, derive the equation for the velocity of the bullet
6:15 Step 3, Conservation of energy, determine the velocity of ballistic pendulum after collision with bullet.
8:50 Substitution to get velocity of the bullet