Two railroad cars, each of mass 7350 kg and traveling 80 km/h in opposite directions, collide head-on and come to rest.
1. How much thermal energy is produced in this collision?
add the initial KEnergies. That has to end in thermalenergy.
To calculate the thermal energy produced in the collision, we need to consider the conservation of kinetic energy and the principle of conservation of momentum.
First, let's calculate the initial total kinetic energy of the two railroad cars.
The formula for kinetic energy is given by:
KE = (1/2) * mass * velocity^2
For each railroad car:
mass = 7350 kg
velocity = 80 km/h = 80,000 m/3600 s = 22.22 m/s
So, the initial kinetic energy for each car is:
KE1 = (1/2) * 7350 kg * (22.22 m/s)^2
= 446,069 Joules
Since the two cars collide head-on and come to rest, the final kinetic energy of the system is zero. Therefore, the change in kinetic energy is given by the initial kinetic energy:
Change in KE = KE1 + KE2 = 2 * 446,069 Joules = 892,138 Joules
The thermal energy produced in the collision can be approximated as the change in kinetic energy.
Therefore, approximately 892,138 Joules of thermal energy is produced in this collision. It's worth noting that this is an approximate value as we have not considered other factors such as friction, deformation, and energy transfer during the collision.