Final answer:
No, it is not possible for two objects to be at rest after the collision if one was initially moving and the other was at rest. This would violate the law of conservation of momentum, which states that the total momentum before and after a collision must remain constant in an isolated system.
option b is the correct
Step-by-step explanation:
Is it possible for both objects to be at rest after a collision when one was initially moving and the other was initially at rest? The answer to this question is B. No. According to the law of conservation of momentum, when two objects collide in an isolated system (with no external forces), the total momentum before the collision must be equal to the total momentum after the collision.
Let's consider a scenario where two objects of equal mass collide, with one object initially moving and the other at rest. If, after the collision, both objects came to a rest, the total momentum of the system would be zero. This would imply that the system had zero total momentum before the collision, which contradicts the fact that one object was moving. Thus, for two objects of equal mass where one is initially moving and the other is at rest, it is not possible for both objects to be at rest after the collision.
Furthermore, if we are given that object A was moving at a specific velocity and then comes to rest after colliding with object B, which was initially at rest, object B must acquire a velocity such that the momentum is conserved. The collision cannot be perfectly elastic unless kinetic energy is also conserved, which would imply that object B moves off with the same velocity that object A had prior to the collision.
Therefore, while two colliding objects can exchange momentum, resulting in different individual velocities post-collision, they cannot both end up at rest without violating conservation of momentum unless they are sticking together (perfectly inelastic collision), which is not the case here.