Final answer:
The presented physics questions involve understanding the principles of momentum, kinetic energy, and gravitational forces in collisions. Conservation laws play a key role in analyzing these events, which are crucial in explaining the outcomes of collisions, including the distribution of force and acceleration among the objects involved.
Step-by-step explanation:
The questions presented revolve around the concepts of momentum, kinetic energy, and collision dynamics in the field of physics. These are key principles in understanding how objects interact through forces and motion.
Collision and Conservation Laws
When two objects collide, such as the described asteroids or masses, the total momentum and kinetic energy before and after the collision are subject to conservation laws, provided that no external forces act on the system. The concept of conservation of momentum dictates that the momentum before the collision must equal the momentum after the collision. Similarly, in perfectly elastic collisions, the kinetic energy is also conserved, meaning it remains constant before and after the event. However, in inelastic collisions, kinetic energy is not conserved.
Gravitational Forces and Acceleration
In a scenario where two asteroids begin to attract each other gravitationally, according to Newton's third law, both objects would experience the same magnitude of gravitational force, regardless of their masses. However, the object with less mass would experience a greater acceleration due to the force being divided by a smaller mass, according to Newton's second law (Force = Mass x Acceleration).