Final answer:
The questions are about the principles of conservation of momentum and conservation of kinetic energy in the context of elastic collisions. They describe various scenarios in which these principles can be applied to predict the final velocities of the objects involved.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the scenarios described, where a small object strikes a larger object at rest, you are dealing with elastic collisions in which both momentum conservation and kinetic energy conservation principles apply. Given the initial velocity of the second glider (v₂ = 0), and knowing the collisions are elastic, we can simplify the conservation equations. Applying these principles:
a. Glider 1 will come to rest after the collision if it transfers all of its momentum to glider 2, which is possible if they have equal mass.
b. If the gliders have different masses, it's unlikely glider 1 will maintain the same speed after the collision due to momentum being shared between the two gliders.
c. Glider 2 will start moving at the speed of glider 1 only if they have the same mass, due to the conservation of momentum.
d. The velocities of both gliders will not remain unchanged after an elastic collision unless there's no collision to start with or they are identical in mass and velocity is exchanged.
The question regarding the velocity of mass B after the collision, given that masses A and B collide elastically with known initial velocities and with A ending with a velocity of -8.0 m/s, can be solved using the conservation of momentum and the conservation of kinetic energy equations:
By conservation of momentum: Initially, the total momentum was mass A's momentum plus mass B's negative momentum. After the collision, it is the negative momentum of A and the unknown momentum of B. Setting these equal yields B's final velocity.
By conservation of kinetic energy: Calculate the initial total kinetic energy and set it equal to the total kinetic energy after the collision to solve for B's final velocity.