Chapter 7

Momentum and Collisions

Practice Problems

Problem 7-28 Solution

(a)

x components:

y components:

Adding the equations together eliminates the final velocity for the second mass,

Solving for the final velocity of the first mass,

Substituting this back into equation (2):

(b) Calculate the kinetic energy before and after to see if it is conserved.

The initial kinetic energy is:

Therefore,

Since, final is less than initial the collision is inelastic.

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