Question

A 14,000-kg boxcar is coasting at 1.50 m/s along a horizontal track when it suddenly hits and couples with a stationary 10,000-kg boxcar. What is the speed of the cars just after the collision?

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

It is given that,

Mass of a box car,
`m_1=14000\ kg`

Initial speed of a box car,
`u_1=1.5\ m/s`

Initial speed of another stationary car is 0 as it was stationary

Mass of another box car is 10,000 kg

Let V is the speed of the cars just after the collision. It is based on the concept of inelastic collision. So, using the conservation of linear momentum we get :

`m_1u_1+m_2u_2=(m_1+m_2)V\\\\m_1u_1=(m_1+m_2)V\\\\V=(m_1u_1)/((m_1+m_2))\\\\V=(14000* 1.5)/((14000+10000))\\\\V=0.875\ m/s`

So, the speed of the cars just after the collision is 0.875 m/s.