A 1.0x10^5 N truck moving at a velocity of 15 m/s north collides head-on with a 1.0x10^4 N car moving at a velocity of 25 m/s south. If they stick together upon impact, what is the velocity of the combined masses?

1 Answer
Aug 4, 2018

I tried this:

Explanation:

We can use concervation of momentum before and after the impact:
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We write:

m_1v_1+m_2v_2=(m_1+m_2)Vm1v1+m2v2=(m1+m2)V

rearrange:

V=(m_1v_1+m_2v_2)/(m_1+m_2)=((1xx10^5*15)+(1xx10^4*(-25)))/(1xx10^5+1xx10^4)=11.4m/sV=m1v1+m2v2m1+m2=(1×10515)+(1×104(25))1×105+1×104=11.4ms

(positive, to the right)