In elastic collision

Question

A 3520 kg truck moving north at

18.5 m/s makes an INELASTIC

collision with an 1480 kg car

moving east. After colliding, they

have a velocity of 13.6 m/s at

72.6°. What was the initial velocity

of the car?

could someone answer thus thourghly and correctly ,I got this{ v_car,i = m_total v_total,x / m_car = 4730 kg x 13.6 m/s x cos(72.6°) / 1480 kg = 12.99 m/s. } and it isn’t corrrct .I would greatly appreciate the revision

Answer 1

Find the X and Y components before and after collision.

Set the X component before collision equal to the X component after collision, and the Y component before collision equal to the Y component after collision.

Divide the first equation by the second, cancelling equal factors and solve for Vcar

You should get Vcar =Mtruck x Vtruck x cos 72 / Mcar x sin 72 = 13.2 m/s

I tried to give more detail, but for some reason the answer was deleted--twice.

Let me know if this is or isn't the right answer. Thanks.

Answer 2

In an inelastic collision, the masses are joined M = m1 + m2, energy is lost, and the total of the components of momentum are conserved. Get a new resultant momentum vector (Mx, My), get the magnitude from the square root of the sum of the squares of the components, and get the direction from forming a triangle with the components as the x and y dimensions. From these equations, you should be able to determine the initial velocity of the car.

I do not have time to check your calculations today. Good luck.