A 0.150kg glider...

Question

A 0.150kg glider slides on an ice pond with negligible friction with speed of 0.8 m/s. It has a head-on-collision with a 0.300 kg glider with a speed of 2.2 m/s moving from the left. Find the final velocity of the 0.300 kg glider.

Answer 1

Use conservation of momentum to write an equation .15*.8-.3*2.2=.15v1+.3v2 where v1 = velocity of the .15 kg and the .3 kg blocks after the collision. Make the assumption that the collision is fully elastic meaning no energy is lost thus an energy equation can be written .5*.15*(.8)²+.5*.3*(2.2)²=.5*.15*v1²+.5*.3*v2². Combining the two equations yields v1=-3.8 and v2=-.2