Car A, with mass of 1735kg, was traveling north at 45.5km/h and car B, with a mass of 2540kg, was traveling west at 37.7km/h when they collided at an intersection. if the cars stuck together after the collision, what was their combined momentum? Was the collision elastic or inelastic?
I get the angle N39.5W however i do not get the combined momentum...
I will be happy to critique your thinking. If the angle is right, then V must be right. The trick is that change in momentum is a vector(momentumafter-momentum before).
I realized my mistake, i was only finding the resultant for the velocity, not the momentum together, if i do not convert km/h into m/s i get the momentum as 1.24*10^5
is that correct?
To find the combined momentum of the cars after the collision, we need to break down the velocities into their horizontal and vertical components.
The velocity of car A traveling north at 45.5 km/h can be broken down into:
Vx = 0 km/h (since it is not moving horizontally)
Vy = 45.5 km/h (the velocity in the vertical direction)
The velocity of car B traveling west at 37.7 km/h can be broken down into:
Vx = 37.7 km/h (the velocity in the horizontal direction)
Vy = 0 km/h (since it is not moving vertically)
To find the combined momentum, we first need to convert the velocities to meters per second (m/s):
45.5 km/h = 45.5 * (1000 m / 3600 s) = 12.64 m/s
37.7 km/h = 37.7 * (1000 m / 3600 s) = 10.47 m/s
Next, we calculate the momentum of each car:
Momentum of car A = Mass of car A * Vy = 1735 kg * 12.64 m/s
Momentum of car B = Mass of car B * Vx = 2540 kg * 10.47 m/s
Finally, we add the momenta of both cars to get the total combined momentum:
Combined momentum = Momentum of car A + Momentum of car B
As for whether the collision is elastic or inelastic, we need more information. In an elastic collision, both kinetic energy and momentum are conserved. In an inelastic collision, only momentum is conserved, while some kinetic energy is lost due to deformation, heat, etc.
To calculate the combined momentum of the cars after the collision, 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, assuming there are no external forces acting on the system.
First, let's find the momentum of car A before the collision. The momentum of an object is calculated by multiplying its mass (m) by its velocity (v). The mass of car A is given as 1735 kg, and its velocity is 45.5 km/h.
We need to convert the velocity from km/h to m/s since the SI unit of mass is in kilograms and SI unit of velocity is in meters per second.
1 km/h = 1000 m/3600 s = 5/18 m/s.
So, the velocity of car A is 45.5 km/h * (5/18) m/s = 12.6389 m/s.
Now, calculate the momentum of car A:
Momentum of car A = mass of car A * velocity of car A
= 1735 kg * 12.6389 m/s
= 21964.2265 kg⋅m/s (rounded to four decimal places)
Similarly, we can find the momentum of car B before the collision. The mass of car B is given as 2540 kg, and its velocity is 37.7 km/h. Converting the velocity to m/s, we get:
Velocity of car B = 37.7 km/h * (5/18) m/s = 10.4722 m/s.
Now, calculate the momentum of car B:
Momentum of car B = mass of car B * velocity of car B
= 2540 kg * 10.4722 m/s
= 26565.268 kg⋅m/s (rounded to three decimal places)
The total momentum before the collision is the sum of the individual momenta of the two cars:
Total momentum before collision = Momentum of car A + Momentum of car B
= 21964.2265 kg⋅m/s + 26565.268 kg⋅m/s
= 48529.4945 kg⋅m/s (rounded to four decimal places)
Since the cars stick together after the collision and there is no separation or loss of kinetic energy, the collision is considered to be perfectly inelastic. In inelastic collisions, the objects stick together and move as a single unit after the collision.