Question

. A 300 kg Blue car is moving rightward at 3 m/s, about to collide with a 100 kg Red car. Adjust the

velocity of the Red car so that the total momentum of the system is 800 kg m/s. (Adjust the velocity
of the Red car so that the sum of the momentum of the Blue car and the momentum of the Red car
equal 800 kg m/s.) What happened?

Answer 1

The velocity of the red car is 1 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that,

The mass of blue car, m₁ = 300 kg

The mass of red car, m₂ = 100 kg

The velocity of Blue car, v₁ = 300 kg

The total momentum of the system, p = 800 kg-m/s

The momentum of an object is given by :

p = mv

So,

`m_1v_1+m_2v_2=p`

Where

v₂ is the velocity of red car. So,

`v_2=(p-m_1v_1)/(m_2)\\\\v_2=(800-300* 3)/(100)\\\\v_2=-1\ m/s`

So, the velocity of the red car is 1 m/s.