A superball with velocity and collision

Question

A 5.0 kg superball moving at 3.0 m/s through space collides with a second stationary 15 kg superball. If the first superball comes to a stop, what is the velocity of the second superball after the collision?

Answer 1

Hi Christine,

            As you know momentum ( mass*velocity) is conserved that means that the initial momentum of a system of particles will be equal to the final momentum after some interaction has taken place.

 

            In our problem we have m1=5 kg, m2=15kg v1=3 m/sec and m1*v1=m2*v2 we can solve this equation for v2 which gives v2=m1*v1/m2 =5*3/15=1m/s

 

           So when the two masses collided and the first mass comes to a stop the second mass takes off  with a velocity that is in the same direction as the first and whose magnitude is 1 m/s.

 

Regards

Jim