Question

Two carts, one of mass 2m and one of mass m, approach each other with the same speed, v. When the carts collide, they

Answer 1

Answer: Graph C is the correct option

Explanation:

The question is incomplete, please remember to submit the whole question :)

However, the rest of the question with its corresponding figures is below:

Assume that positive momentum is to the right, which of the following best represents the momentum of the cart of mass m as a function of time before and after the collision?

The initial momentum $p_{o}$ of the cart with mass $m$ (before the collision) is:

$p_{o}=-mV$ (1) Note the negative sign indicates the direction of cart's velocity (to the left, as seen in the first image attached)

On the other hand, the final momentum $p_{f}$ of both carts (after the inelastic collision) is:

$p_{f}=(2m+m) V_{f}=3m V_{f}$ (2)

So, according to this, the correct graph tha best represents the situation is C. Since before the collision the momentum is negative, then both carts slow down after the collision ($V_{f}$), and taking into account the linear momentum is directly proportional to the velocity $p_{f}$ (although is in the positive direction) is less than $p_{o}$.