2d momentum /physics

Question

A 3520 kg truck moving north at

26.0 m/s makes an INELASTIC

collision with a 1480 kg car

moving 13.0 m/s east. What is the

magnitude of their (joint) velocity?

could some directly answer this it would be greatly appreciated! .Jordan

Answer 1

Do the problem in 2 dimensions. The initial conditions puts each vehicle along an axis. Momentum is conserved on each axis after the collision. Finql momentum = pf = M*V M= m1+m2

pf = p1y +p2x pf=MV where the final momentum is made up of the total mass m1 and m2 and V.

pfx = M*Vx= p2x=m2*v2

pfy = M*Vy= p1x=m1*v1

Vx = (m2*v2)/ M = 1480 kg*13 m/s = 19240 kg-m/s =3.848 m/s

(3520+1480)*kg 5000 kg

Vy = (m1*v1/M) = 3520 kg * 26 m/s = 2.704 kg-m/s = 18.304 m/s

5000 kg 5000 kg

|V| = ( 3.848^2 + 18,304^2 )^0.5

|V| = 18.704 m/s

Answer 2

Without more information we are left only with the assumption that the two objects lock together after the collision. This results in the final velocity North of 18.3 m/s and East 3.85 m/s for a resultant velocity of 18.7 m/s