A hammer of mass 500 g, moving at 50 ms⁻¹, strikes a nail. The nail stops the hammer in a very short time of 0.01 s. What is the force of the nail on the hammer?

Given : Mass of the hammer, M = 500g = 0.5kg
Initial velocity of the hammer, u = 50ms⁻¹
Final velocity of the hammer, v = 0
Time taken, t = 0.01 s
Thus change in momentum of the hammer, ΔP = mv - mu
ΔP = 0 - 0.5 × 50 = -25 kgms⁻¹
Force of the nail on hammer, |F| = |ΔP|/t = 25/0.01 = 2500 N