A 40-kg skater moving at 4 m/s overtakes a 60-kg skater moving at 2 m/s in the same direction and collides with her. The two skaters stick together. What is their final speed?
conservation of momentum
40*4+60*2= (100)V solve for V
So the answer is 100V
No. divide each side by 100
(160+120)/100 = V
You have to calculate that.
Thank you!!
To find the final speed of the two skaters after the collision, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. According to this principle, the total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision.
Momentum (p) is calculated by multiplying an object's mass (m) by its velocity (v). So, we can calculate the initial momentum of the 40-kg skater and the 60-kg skater separately:
Initial momentum of the 40-kg skater = mass (40 kg) × velocity (4 m/s) = 160 kg·m/s
Initial momentum of the 60-kg skater = mass (60 kg) × velocity (2 m/s) = 120 kg·m/s
Now, since the two skaters stick together after the collision, their final combined mass is the sum of their individual masses:
Final mass = mass of the 40-kg skater (40 kg) + mass of the 60-kg skater (60 kg) = 100 kg
We can now calculate the final velocity of the two skaters by dividing the total initial momentum by the final mass:
Final momentum = Total initial momentum = 160 kg·m/s + 120 kg·m/s = 280 kg·m/s
Final velocity = Final momentum / Final mass = 280 kg·m/s / 100 kg = 2.8 m/s
Therefore, the final speed of the two skaters after the collision is 2.8 m/s.