Question

A freight car, open at the top, weighing 9.59 tons, is coasting along a level track with negligible friction at 4.46 ft/s when it begins to rain hard. the raindrops fall vertically with respect to the ground. what is the speed (in feet/second) of the car when it has collected 0.176 tons of rain?

Answer 1

This physics problem involves the conservation of momentum applied to a freight car collecting rain and asks for the car's new speed after a certain amount of rain has been collected.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of the question is a physics problem that deals with conservation of momentum. Specifically, it involves a freight car that collects rain and how this affects its speed. To solve this question, we consider that the total momentum of the system before and after the rain starts collecting in the car remains constant because there is negligible friction.

Initially, the car weighs 9.59 tons and travels at 4.46 ft/s. The total momentum of the car before the rain is Momentum_initial = mass_car * velocity_car. After collecting 0.176 tons of rain, the car's new mass is 9.59 tons + 0.176 tons. We calculate the new speed of the car by setting the initial momentum equal to the final momentum, where Momentum_final = (mass_car + mass_rain) * velocity_final. Solving for velocity_final gives us the answer.