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4 October, 13:48

An elephant, which has a mass of 2200 kg., is moving with a velocity of 11.0 m/s across a frozen lake in Africa when itbegins to slide across the ice. The sliding elephant then collides with a massive 4000.0 kg ball of putty which was left behindwhen a local pottery business went kaput. After the collision the elephant sticks to the putty and both slide across the icetogether. What will be the velocity of the elephant-putty combination?

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  1. 4 October, 14:47
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    the velocity of the elephant-putty combination will be v final=3.548 m/s

    Explanation:

    If we neglect friction of the ice then for the system formed by the elephant and the putty, the momentum is conserved. From Newton's second law:

    F = d (mv) / dt = 0 → d (mv) = 0 → mv = constant

    where m = mass, v = velocity, F=force, t=time

    Also we assume perfectly inelastic collision between the elephant and the putty → since the elephant sticks to the putty and slide together

    therefore denoting "el" and "pu" as elephant and putty respectively:

    m el * v el + m pu * v pu = (m el + m pu) * v final

    since the putty is initially at rest v pu=0, then

    v final = m el / (m el + m pu) * v el = 2200 kg / (2200 kg+4000kg) * 11 m/s = 3.548 m/s

    v final = 3.548 m/s
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