Final answer:
To create a free-body diagram of colliding masses in an environment with no gravity, isolate each mass, draw the collision forces acting upon them, and separate the diagrams for each mass.
Step-by-step explanation:
To draw a free-body diagram during a collision of two masses where there's no gravity or normal force involved, you need to:
- Identify and isolate each mass.
- Sketch the forces acting on each mass.
- Note that due to Newton's third law, the forces of impact each mass exerts on the other are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
- Represent each object as a point if you're treating it as a particle.
- Label all the external forces acting on the mass. In the absence of gravity, these will be primarily the forces due to the collision itself.
- Resolve any forces into their x- and y-components if it simplifies analysis, although this might not be necessary if forces are directly opposing each other.
- Draw separate diagrams for each mass to clarify the forces in action.
In this scenario, since gravity is not a factor and there is no surface for a normal force to act upon, your free-body diagrams will likely show only the forces of collision - the action and reaction forces where the masses are in contact. Remember, these action-reaction forces are part of an action-reaction pair and thus should not both be included on a single free-body diagram.
If you need to apply Newton's second law to determine the movement of each mass post-collision, you will then use the diagrams to set up the equations for force and acceleration.