A freight car moves along a friction less level railroad track at constant speed. The car is open on top. A large load of coal is suddenly dumped into the car. What happens to the velocity of the car?

Question

Physics

Zoe Weber

8 June, 20:27

A freight car moves along a friction less level railroad track at constant speed. The car is open on top. A large load of coal is suddenly dumped into the car. What happens to the velocity of the car?

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Answers (1)

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Nigel Goodwin · Answer 1

The velocity of the freight car decreases.

Explanation:

This question is answered by the conservation of momentum principle.

When the freight car is moving at a certain speed, it has a constant momentum.

We will call this M1.

The equation for M1 will be:

M1 = Mass * Speed

Now when the coal is dumped into the freight car, the Mass increases.

Since conservation of momentum states that the momentum will remain the same. We have:

M1 = (Mass of freight + Mass of coal) * Speed

Since M1 is constant, if the mass increases, the speed had to decrease to keep the equation true.