Collisions in Real Life

Question

Please help me answer the following question, please provide steps, and work.

Question:

In the movie, The Matrix Reloaded, Neo (80 kg) jumps toward Agent Smith (600 kg) who jumps towards Neo. When they collide, they grab hold of one another. If Neo has a velocity of 25.0 m/s to the right and Agent Smith has a velocity of 5.0 m/s to the left before the collision, what is the velocity of Agent Smith after the collision?

Make use of the situations in this scenario and tell us a story of your own that involves a similar type of collision. You may use approximate values to solve the problem that you come up with.

Answer 1

This is a non-elastic collision problem ("collide and hold on to each other"), therefore we ca use the equation

m1*v1 + m2*v2 = (m1 + m2)*vf

m1 = mass of neo

v1 = initial velocity of neo

m2 = mass of Agent Smith

v2 = initial velocity of Agent Smith

vf = final velocity

Now we set up the equation to solve for the final velocity.

vf = (m1*v1 + m2*v2)/(m1 + m2).

Don't forget to choose a reference direction. I would choose going to the right as my positive and going to the left as my negative.