Ball A has mass 5.0 kg and is moving at - 3.2 m/s when it strikes stationary ball B, which has mass 3.9 kg, in a head-on collision. If the collision is completely inelastic, what is the common velocity of balls A and B?

Question

Physics

Brett Nicholson

11 April, 19:06

Ball A has mass 5.0 kg and is moving at - 3.2 m/s when it strikes stationary ball B, which has mass 3.9 kg, in a head-on collision. If the collision is completely inelastic, what is the common velocity of balls A and B?

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Answers (1)

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Conor · Answer 1

Momentum conservation in a completely inelastic collision works like this:

mA*vA+mB*vB=v (mA+mB)

Since B was initially stationary pB=0.

Plugging in numbers gives:

5 * (-3.2) = v (5+3.9)

v = - 1.79 m/s to the left.