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:

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
The answer is 17 m because you have to add the 15 m and the 8 m together to get the answer so it will be like this 17x17 = 15x15 + 8x8 got it?
This actually means that the object which is emitting light spectrum is moving away from us.. how do you know that ? well.. it is clearly mentioned that it is a red shift so the wavelengths will stretched more . and thus the spectrum turns more reddish as it has higher wavelengths .. hence so called red shifts
This is false. There were many times in history when people discovered something that they didn't even know was possible or didn't even plan to discover it. Knowing tradeoffs doesn't mean that something won't surprise you or that all will go according to plan.