The combined momentum is 4000 kg m/s south
Explanation:
The total combined momentum of the two cars is given by the vector addition of the momenta of the two cars.
For this problem, we choose north as positive direction and south as negative direction.
The momentum of the first car travelling north is given by:
where
is the mass of the car
is its velocity
Substituting,
The momentum of the second car travelling south is given by:
where
is the mass of the car
is its velocity (negative because the car travels south)
Substituting,
And therefore, the combined momentum is
where the negative sign means the direction of the total momentum is south.
Learn more about momentum:
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