Question

A croquet ball moving at 2.0 m/s strikes another ball of equal mass. The first ball stopped moving after the collision. What is the velocity of the second ball after the collision?

a) 0.0 m/s
b) 1.0 m/s
c) 2.0 m/s
d) 3.0 m/s

Answer 1

After the collision, the second croquet ball will have a velocity of 2.0 m/s, since the momentum is conserved and the first ball transfers all its momentum to the second one.

Step-by-step explanation:

A croquet ball moving at 2.0 m/s strikes another ball of equal mass. According to the law of conservation of momentum, the total momentum before the collision must be equal to the total momentum after the collision. If the first ball stopped moving after the collision, this means that all of its momentum has been transferred to the second ball.

Since the two balls have equal mass and the first ball was moving at 2.0 m/s before the collision, the second ball must also move at 2.0 m/s after the collision to conserve momentum. Therefore, the correct answer is c) 2.0 m/s.