Question

A car with a mass of 1380 Kg is traveling at 23 m/s to the north. A truck with a mass of 1625 Kg is traveling at 26 m/s to the south. Imagine that both of these vehicles crash into each other head-on and get stuck together. What will their velocity be immediately after the collision

Answer 1

Answer: -3.49 m/s (to the south)

Explanation:

This problem can be solved by the Conservation of Momentum principle which establishes the initial momentum $p_{i}$ must be equal to the final momentum $p_{f}$, and taking into account this is aninelastic collision:

Before the collision:

$p_{i}=mV_{o}+MU_{o}$ (1)

After the collision:

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

Where:

$m=1380 kg$ is the mass of the car

$V_{o}=23 m/s$ is the velocity of the car, directed to the north

$M=1625 kg$ is the mass of the truck

$U_{o}=-26 m/s$ is the velocity of the truck, directed to the south

$V_{f}$ is the final velocity of both the car and the truck

$p_{i}=p_{f}$ (3)

$mV_{o}+MU_{o}=(m+M)V_{f}$ (4)

Isolating $V_{f}$:

$V_{f}=\frac{mV_{o}+MU_{o}}{m+M}$ (5)

$V_{f}=\frac{(1380 kg)(23 m/s)+(1625 kg)(-26 m/s)}{1380 kg+1625 kg}$ (6)

Finally:

$V_{f}=-3.49 m/s$ The negative sign indicates the direction of the velocity is to the south