Question

While ice skating, you unintentionally crash into a person. Your mass is 60kg

and you are traveling east at 8.0m/s
with respect to the ice. The mass of the other person is 80kg
and he is traveling north at 9.0m/s
with respect to the ice. You hang on to each other after the collision. In what direction and at what speed are you traveling just after the collision?

Answer 1

The speed is 6.1m/s with an angle of 56.3 degrees north of east.

Step-by-step explanation:

We meed to apply the Linear momentum theorem:

`m1*vo1+m2*vo2=m1*vf1+m2*vf2\\60*(8.0m/s(East))+80*(9.0m/s(North))=140*vf\\vf=3.4m/s(East)+5.1m/s(North)`

The magnitude of the velocity is given by:

`v=√(Veast^2+Vnorth^2) \\v=6.1m/s`

and the angle:

`\alpha =arctg((Vnorth)/(Veast))\\\alpha=56.3^o`