Question

A .5 kg toy train car moving forward at 3 m/s collides with and sticks to a .8 kg toy car that is traveling at 2 m/s what is the final velocity of the two cars round to the nearest 10th

Answer 1

Here we have perfectly inelastic collision. Perfectly inelastic collision is type of collision during which two objects collide, stay connected and momentum is conserved. Formula used for conservation of momentum is:
$m_{1} * v_{1} + m_{2} * v_{2} = m_{1} * v'_{1}+ m_{2} * v'_{2}$

In case of perfectly inelastic collision v'1 and v'2 are same.

We are given information:
m₁=0.5kg
m₂=0.8kg
v₁=3m/s
v₂=2m/s
v'₁=v'₂=x

0.5*3 + 0.8*2 = 0.5*x + 0.8*x
1.5 + 1.6 = 1.3x
3.1 = 1.3x
x = 2.4 m/s