Before a head on e€lastic collision, ball A is traveling 10 m/s and ball B is traveling 7.0 m/s. After the collision, ball A’s velocity is 8.0 m/s to the right.

Question

What is ball B’s velocity after the collision?

Answer 1

Since it is an elastic collision, both energy and momentum will be conserved. Let's use mA and mB for the masses.

First, the energy equation:

E = m*v² /2

vB is the velocity of B after the collision

Energy before and after must be equal: mA*50 + mB*24.5 = mA*32 + mB*vB

Rearrange and simplify:

18mA = (vB - 24.5) * mB

vB = 18R + 24.5, where R is the mass ratio (A/B) <----Equation 1

Next, the momentum equation:

<<I have not yet found a combination of parameters that gives a solution---still trying>>