Two Carts have a perfectly inelastic collision. Cart A has mass 47.2 kg and velocity 6.33 m/s directed north immediately before the collision. Cart B has mass 41.1 kg and velocity 4.4 m/s directed west immediately before the collision. What is the speed of the two carts, stuck together, immediately after they collide?
p1=m1•v1 =47.2•6.33 =299 kg•m/s,
p2=m2•v2= 41.1•4.4 =181kg•m/s.
The law of coservation of linear momentum in vector form is
(p̅1)+ (p̅2) = (p̅)
Magnitude p= sqrt{(p1)² +(p2)²}=
=sqrt{299²+181²}=
= 350 kg•m/s.
v=p/(m1+m2) =350/(47.2+41.1)=3.96 m/s