A railway truck, with a mass of 7,257Mg, moves at a velocity of 11,27km/h when it is brought to a standstill by a buffer. Calculate the momentum of the truck directly before it collides with the buffer.
The momentum of an object can be calculated using the formula:
momentum = mass x velocity
Given:
Mass of the truck (m) = 7,257 Mg = 7,257,000 kg
Velocity of the truck (v) = 11,27 km/h = 11,270 m/h
First, convert the velocity from m/h to m/s:
11,270 m/h x (1 h/3600 s) = 3.131 m/s (rounded to 3 decimal places)
Now, calculate the momentum of the truck:
momentum = mass x velocity
= 7,257,000 kg x 3.131 m/s
= 22,760,367 kg·m/s
Therefore, the momentum of the truck directly before it collides with the buffer is 22,760,367 kg·m/s.