Question

A car (mass = 1200 kg) is traveling at 31.1 m/s when it collides head-on with a sport utility vehicle (mass = 2830 kg) traveling in the opposite direction. In the collision, the two vehicles come to a halt. At what speed was the sport utility vehicle traveling?

Answer 1

13.18 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

Let the velocity of sports utility car is

-u as it is moving in opposite direction.

mc = 1200 kg, uc = 31.1 m/s

ms = 2830 kg, us = - u = ?

Using conservation of momentum

mc × uc + ms × us = 0

1200 × 31.1 - 2830 × u = 0

u = 13.18 m/s