Answer:
Explanation:To determine the speed of the first car when it hit the second car, we can use the conservation of momentum. The momentum of the first car before the collision is equal to its mass multiplied by its velocity, and the momentum of the two cars after the collision is also equal to their combined mass multiplied by their combined velocity.
The momentum of the first car before the collision is 3.00kg * v1 = m1 * v1
The momentum of the two cars after the collision is (3.00kg + 2.00kg) * v2 = (m1 + m2) * v2
From the conservation of momentum, we can set these two equations equal to each other and solve for v1:
m1 * v1 = (m1 + m2) * v2
v1 = (m1 + m2) * v2 / m1
v1 = (3.00kg + 2.00kg) * v2 / 3.00kg
v1 = 5.00kg * v2 / 3.00kg
v1 = (5/3) * v2
The combined velocity of the two cars after collision is v2 = 2.0m / (2.0s) = 1.0m/s
Therefore, the first car was going at (5/3) * 1.0m/s = 1.67m/s.
To determine if this collision is elastic or inelastic, we need to calculate the coefficient of restitution (e).
e = (initial velocity of first car - final velocity of first car) / (initial velocity of first car)
The initial velocity of the first car was 1.67m/s and final velocity of the first car is 0 m/s (since it stops after the collision).
e = (1.67m/s - 0m/s ) / (1.67m/s)
e = 1.0
The coefficient of restitution is 1.0, which means the collision is perfectly elastic. This means that the kinetic energy is conserved in the collision.