Question

Indiana jones (83.5 kg) is running 3.75 m/s when he jumps in a stationary 312 kg mine cart. what is their joint velocity afterward? PLEASE HELP ME

Answer 1

Answer:

.7917 m/s

Explanation:

This is a conservation of momentum question. You have an object initially at rest (cart) so that object is initially at 0 momentum. Indiana Jones is 83.5 kg and running 3.75 m/s so he starts with a momentum of 313.125 kg * m/s because momentum is equal to mass * velocity. Once the person jumps in the cart, the cart and the person can be considered one object and by conservation of momentum, the momentum of the Indiana-cart system is equal to 313.125 kg * m/s. By that, we can set that momentum equal to the combined mass * joint velocity. So 313.125 = (83.5kg + 312kg) * joint velocity. Then just solve for the velocity. The answer should be smaller than the intial velocity of the person of 3.75 m/s because the mine cart is HUGE at 312kg.