Final answer:
Upon throwing a ball at a partition fixed to a cart and the ball sticking rather than rebounding, the cart will move in the opposite direction to the ball's initial throw due to the conservation of momentum. The movement results from an inelastic collision, with final velocity depending on both masses and throwing speed, although kinetic energy isn't conserved.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you are on a cart initially at rest on a track with very little friction and you throw a ball at a partition that is rigidly mounted on the cart, whereby the ball sticks to the partition and doesn't rebound, the conservation of momentum dictates the outcome. Since the ball has a certain momentum before impacting the partition, and the system is closed (no external forces), that momentum must be conserved. The cart will move in the opposite direction to the ball's initial throw to conserve the system's total momentum.
This concept is similar to what happens during an inelastic collision, where two objects collide, stick together, and move as one after the collision. In the case of the cart and the ball, the momentum of the ball will transfer to the cart, causing both to move together in the direction opposite the ball's throw. The speed at which the cart moves will depend on the mass of the cart and the ball, and the velocity at which the ball was thrown. The total kinetic energy of the system, however, will not be conserved in an inelastic collision because some of it is transformed into other forms of energy, such as deformation or heat.