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Two air cars collide on a frictionless air track. The mass ofcar 1 is 0.600 kg a

ID: 1756195 • Letter: T

Question

Two air cars collide on a frictionless air track. The mass ofcar 1 is 0.600 kg and its velocity is .40 m/s to the right whilecar 2 has a mass of .500 kg and a velocity of .65 m/s to the leftbefore they collide. After the collision the first car rebounds tothe left with a velocity of .250 m/sec. NOTE: Velocities to theright are + and those to the left are -. A. Calculate the KE before the collision and the KE after thecollision. Are the kinetic energies before and after equal? Two air cars collide on a frictionless air track. The mass ofcar 1 is 0.600 kg and its velocity is .40 m/s to the right whilecar 2 has a mass of .500 kg and a velocity of .65 m/s to the leftbefore they collide. After the collision the first car rebounds tothe left with a velocity of .250 m/sec. NOTE: Velocities to theright are + and those to the left are -. A. Calculate the KE before the collision and the KE after thecollision. Are the kinetic energies before and after equal?

Explanation / Answer

Given :

                      m1 =   0.600 kg   

                      u1   = 0.40 m /s

                      v1   = - 0.250   m /s

                       m2 = 0.500 kg

                      u2   = - 0.65 m /s

Velocity of second car after collision is :

                      v2   = [ u2 ( m2 - m1) + 2 m1 u1 ] /(m1 + m2)