Question

A spring is compressed between two carts, one with a mass of 5kg and the other with a 15 kg. Which will move away with higher velocity? Assume the momentum of the first cart is equal to the momentum of the second cart. V1and V2are the velocities of cart 1 and cart 2 respectively

Answer 1

Given,

The mass of the cart 1, m₁=5 kg

The mass of the cart 2, m₂=15 kg

The velocity of cart 1 is V₁

The velocity of cart 2 is V₂

The momentum of both carts is the same.

The momentum of an object is the product of the mass of the object and its velocity.

As the momentum of both carts is the same we have,

`m_1V_1=m_2V_2`

On substituting the known values,

`\begin{gathered} 5V_1=15V_2 \\ \Rightarrow V_1=3V_2 \end{gathered}`

Thus the velocity of cart 1 is three times the velocity of cart 2.

Therefore, cart 1 will move away with a higher velocity.