Question

I throw a ball with a mass of 0.5 kg at a box with a mass of 10kg. The ball is moving at a velocity of 10 m/s. After the collision, the ball is trapped inside the box and both objects are moving at the same velocity. What is that velocity

Answer 1

5 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

This can be determined by using the conservation of momentum, which states that the final momentum must be equal to the initial momentum, P = mv, where m is the mass and v is the velocity. The total initial momentum of the system is 10 kg x 10 m/s = 100 kg m/s. According to the conservation of momentum, the total final momentum must also be 100 kg m/s. The total final mass is 10.5 kg, so the final velocity must be 100 ÷ 10.5 = 5 m/s.