One object is traveling northeast with a momentum of 12 kg-m/s, while a second object is traveling southwest on the same path as the first object with a momentum of 4 kg-m/s. When the two objects collide, they stick together. What is the momentum after their collision?(1 point)
Responses
8 kg-m/s northeast
8 kg-m/s northeast
8 kg-m/s southwest
8 kg-m/s southwest
16 kg-m/s southwest
16 kg-m/s southwest
16 kg-m/s northeast
The momentum of each object before the collision is given as 12 kg-m/s and 4 kg-m/s. Since they are moving in opposite directions (northeast and southwest), their momenta have opposite signs.
To find the total momentum after the collision, we need to add the individual momenta together. The magnitude of the momentum is given by the absolute value of the sum of the momenta.
|12 kg-m/s| + |-4 kg-m/s| = 12 kg-m/s + 4 kg-m/s = 16 kg-m/s
Since the objects stick together after the collision, their momentum will be in the same direction as the first object, which is northeast.
Therefore, the correct answer is 16 kg-m/s northeast.