You are a crewman on a pirate ship. You are in a battle with the Royal Navy of England. You have loaded your cannon, which is not secured to the floor, and now you stand directly behind the cannon as you light the fuse. Explain in physics terms why that would be a VERY stupid move on your part.

Conservation of momentum - causes a recoil of cannon frame after launch

Explanation:

- It is simple, we can apply the conservation of momentum on the system. Initial momentum P_i before shooting is zero. Then after you strike the cannon up, the ball will go to the target however for the momentum to be conserved the cannon frame must move backwards with the same momentum with which the cannon ball is launched.

Hence, the recoil of the cannon frame would be large enough to dislodge you off the ground and throw you a few feet back.