two carts, a and b, are linked by a spring and are at rest. Cart a has a mass of 4 kg and cart b has a mass of 2 kg. The spring is released and cart a has a velocity of 10 m/s.

Question

two carts, a and b, are linked by a spring and are at rest. Cart a has a mass of 4 kg and cart b has a mass of 2 kg. The spring is released and cart a has a velocity of 10 m/s. What is the velocity of cart b including the sign?

Answer 1

By law of conservation of momentum : 0 = m1v1 + m2v2_. From here v₂ = - m₁v₁/m₂ = - 4kg·10m/s/2g

= - 20 m/s