1200kg car moving at 9.72m/s runs into and sticks to a parked 1000kg car. The collision takes 0.15s and after the crash the cars wheels lock and they skid to a stop on the u=0.40 road. what is the distance travelled before skidding to a stop?
3.6
To find the distance traveled before skidding to a stop, we need to calculate the initial velocity of the combined cars and then use the equations of linear motion to find the distance.
Let's break down the problem step by step:
1. Calculate the initial velocity of the combined cars:
The initial momentum of the two cars is conserved during the collision. We can use the law of conservation of linear momentum to find the initial velocity of the combined cars.
The law of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision.
Total momentum before = Total momentum after
(mass of car 1) x (initial velocity of car 1) + (mass of car 2) x (initial velocity of car 2) = (combined mass of cars) x (initial velocity of combined cars)
Using the given information:
(1200 kg) x (9.72 m/s) + (1000 kg) x (0 m/s) = (2200 kg) x (initial velocity of combined cars)
Solve for the initial velocity of the combined cars.