A 400kg sports car collides with a stopped pickup 40m/s. After the collision, the sports car stops and the pickup moves forward at 15m/s. What is the momentum of the sports car before the collision? What is it the mass of the pickup?
momentum after=pickupmass*15m/s
momentum before=400*40m/s
set these equal, solve for mass pickup
To find the momentum of the sports car before the collision, we first need to recall the equation for momentum:
Momentum = mass * velocity
Given that the sports car stops after the collision, its final velocity is 0 m/s. Additionally, we are given the mass of the sports car as 400 kg. Therefore, using the equation for momentum, we can calculate the momentum of the sports car before the collision as follows:
Momentum of sports car before collision = mass of sports car * initial velocity of sports car
Since the final velocity of the sports car is 0 m/s, the initial velocity is 40 m/s. Plugging in the values, we have:
Momentum of sports car before collision = 400 kg * 40 m/s
Now, to solve for the momentum:
Momentum of sports car before collision = 16,000 kg*m/s
Now let's move on to determining the mass of the pickup. Since we are not given its initial velocity, we need to use the principle of conservation of momentum. According to this principle, the total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision.
Total momentum before collision = Total momentum after collision
Momentum of sports car before collision = Momentum of sports car after collision + Momentum of pickup after collision
Since the sports car stops after the collision, its momentum after the collision is 0 kg*m/s. The momentum of the pickup after the collision is given as 15 m/s. Therefore, we can write the equation as:
16,000 kg*m/s = 0 kg*m/s + mass of pickup * 15 m/s
To solve for the mass of the pickup, we can rearrange the equation:
mass of pickup = 16,000 kg*m/s / 15 m/s
Calculating this further:
mass of pickup = 1,066.67 kg
Therefore, the momentum of the sports car before the collision is 16,000 kg*m/s, and the mass of the pickup is approximately 1,066.67 kg.