a person drives northward (90 degrees) at 15m/s in a truck that weighs 2500kg. a second person driving a car that weighs 1600 kg drives southwest (225 degrees) at 16 m/s. They have a perfectly inelastic collision. What is the direction and speed of the two vehicles immediately after the collision.
I have no idea where to start. I know we have to use vectors, but I am really bad at those. PLEASE HELP
In an inelastic collision, the bodies stick together. Therefore, their velocities are equal.
M1*V1 + M2*V2 = M1*V + M2*V.
2500*15[90o] + 1600*16[225o]=2500V + 1600V.
37,500[90o] + 25,600[225o] = 4100V.
37,500i - 18,102 - 18,102i = 4100V.
-18,102 + 19,398i = 4100V.
28443[-47o] = 4100V.
V = 6.94m/s[-47o] = 6.94[47o] N. of W. =
6.94m/s[133o] CCW.