Question

In a bumper car arena, two cars of equal mass are heading straight toward each other. The orange one is traveling at a speed of 5 meters per second. The green one is traveling at a speed of 2 meters per second. Which of the forces most affects the motion of the bumper cars after they collide? A) gravity B) friction C) the other car D) wind resistance

Answer 1

I would say the other car, given that the collision will cause each of the cars to slow down from their original velocities. If you have studied momentum, then you will know that momentum = mass x velocity. So the overall mass each of the cars, assuming that the stuck together after a collision, would be greater than before causing the combined mass to slow down as momentum is conserved.

Hopefully this makes sense and is right!

Answer 2

C) the other car

Step-by-step explanation:

After they collide, the force that would affect the most the cars would be the force or momentum that the other car is carrying, in this case the one that would take the worst part would be the one that has less speed, because has less momentum, so it would be that car has the slowest speed taking the most of the damage due to the difference in the kinetic energy, and that would be the determining force to take into account after the collision.