Two identical gliders on an air track are held together by a piece of string, compressing a spring between the gliders. While th
ey are moving to the right at a common speed of 0.325 m/s, someone holds a match under the string and burns it, letting the spring force the gliders apart. One glider is then observed to be moving to the right at 1.33 m/s. What velocity does the other glider have
Both the gliders have same mass and same speed of .325 m /s .
The detachment of spring will create equal and opposite force on both of them , one force adding momentum to one and the other force reducing the momentum of the other . Since mass of both the gliders are same , change in velocity too will be same . Let change in velocity be v .
for forward moving glider
.325 + v = 1.33
v = 1.005 m /s
The other glider will have final velocity
= .325 - 1.005
= - .68 m /s
So other glider will go in opposite direction with velocity of .68 m /s .
So you subtract the numbers that are on the same axis. So if your gravitational force is 10 and your normal force is 5 you do 5-10 to get -5 since gravity acts downward
