Question

A 1000 Kg car traveling at 10 m/s hits the back of a 5000 Kg truck

standing still on the road. After the collision, the truck starts rolling at
a velocity of 2 m/s in forward direction. Calculate the velocity of car
after collision. Describe the motion of the car in words.

Answer 1

0 m/s

The car becomes stationary

Step-by-step explanation:

The law of conservation of linear momentum states that the sum of inital and final momentum should be equal and expressed as

`m_cu_c+m_tu_t=m_cv_c+m_tv_t`

Where m represent the mass, u and v are tge initial and final velocities while subscripts c and t represent car and truck.

Taking forward direction as positive then considering that the truck is originally at rest, we substitute original truck velocity with 0, mass of car and truck with 1000 kg and 5000 kg respectively then final truck velocity as 2 m/s as we take initial car velocity to be 10 m/s

1000*10+(5000*0)=5000*2+1000v

1000v=0

V=0

Therefore, the car finally becomes stationary.