A cannon ball (shell) is fired from a cannon, and it explodes in the mid air. In this regard, which one of the following statements is CORRECT for the cannon ball?

Correct option is C

When a cannon ball (or shell) explodes mid-air, it breaks into multiple fragments. This process is governed by the law of conservation of momentum and principles of energy transformation.
Although the system's total momentum remains conserved (since no external force is acting on the system), the total kinetic energy increases due to the conversion of chemical potential energy (stored in the explosive material) into kinetic energy.
This is because, before the explosion, the cannon ball is moving with a certain velocity and has a specific kinetic energy. Upon explosion, the internal chemical energy gets released, and fragments scatter in various directions. The kinetic energy of the system post-explosion is the sum of the kinetic energies of all individual fragments, which is greater than the initial kinetic energy of the single moving shell.
Information Booster:
· Law of Conservation of Momentum: Total momentum before and after explosion remains the same in absence of external forces.
· Kinetic Energy increases because chemical energy from explosives is converted into motion.
· In such explosions, directional velocities of fragments can vary widely, increasing total energy.
· Momentum is a vector quantity; even if fragment velocities cancel each other directionally, energy (a scalar) adds up.
· The system is isolated, so the increase in kinetic energy comes from internal energy.
· This phenomenon is used in military applications like fragmentation shells for wider area impact.
Additional Knowledge:
· Total momentum of the system increases – The law of conservation of momentum ensures that the total momentum remains constant in the absence of external forces. An explosion is caused by internal forces; thus, total momentum is unchanged.
· Total momentum of the system decreases – Momentum is conserved unless acted upon by an external force, which is not the case here.
· Total kinetic energy of the system increases – Due to the conversion of chemical (potential) energy stored in the shell into kinetic energy of the fragments, the total kinetic energy increases after the explosion.
· Total kinetic energy of the system decreases – The explosion adds energy to the system, increasing the kinetic energy. A decrease would imply energy loss, which doesn't occur here; rather, energy is added.