Final answer:
The law of conservation of momentum states that in a closed system with no net external forces, the total momentum before a collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the law of conservation of momentum, in a closed or isolated system, the initial total momentum before a collision equals the final total momentum.
The law of conservation of momentum states that when the net external force is zero, the total momentum of a system is conserved or remains constant. This is typically related to a system's linear momentum, which is the product of the system's mass and velocity. Additionally, important concepts such as point masses, which are structureless particles that cannot rotate or spin, and recoil, the backward movement of an object caused by the transfer of momentum from another object in a collision, are often discussed in this context.
In a collision scenario where the collision is elastic and one cart stops while the other continues moving, the total momentum before and after the collision is conserved. This means that if the first cart comes to a stop after the collision, the second cart will gain momentum and carry on moving. This aligns with the principle that 'P1 + P2 = P'1 + P'2', where P1 and P2 represent the momenta of two objects before a collision, and P'1 and P'2 represent their momenta after the collision.