Question

1. One pool ball traveling with a velocity of 5m / s hits another ball of the same mass, which is stationary. The collision is head on, as momentum is conserved, and they bounce off each other. What are the final velocities of both bodies?

Answer 1

In an elastic collision, both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. The final velocities of the two balls will be 2.5 m/s in opposite directions.

Step-by-step explanation:

In an elastic collision, both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. In this case, since both balls have the same mass and the collision is head-on, the final velocities can be determined using the principles of conservation of momentum.

Let the final velocity of the first ball be v1 and the final velocity of the second ball be v2. Since the collision is elastic, we can equate the initial and final momenta:

Initial momentum = Final momentum

5 m/s * mass = mass * v1 + mass * v2

5 = v1 + v2

Since the mass of both balls is the same, we can simplify the equation to:

5 = v1 + v2

Since the magnitude of the final velocities must be the same as the initial velocity (5 m/s), the only possible solution is v1 = -v2 = 2.5 m/s.