Car 1 has a of mass 1000kg and is going at 20m/s. Car 2 has the same mass as Car 1 and is stationary. If they collide and travel together as one unit in the same direction as Car 1 was going, calculate the speed of the unit after the collision.

By Conservation of Momentum

Total Momentum Before= Total Momentum After

thus

m1v1+m2v2=(m1+m2)v3

Plugging in the numbers and re-arranging for v3 gives

100020+10000=2000*v3

v3=(1000*20)/2000=10m/s

AH

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

A tractor pulls a plough 2km across a field using a constant force of 8N, what is the work done by the tractor?


If a box full of feathers and a box full of bricks were to be dropped at the same time and from the same height, which one would hit the ground first?


What is terminal velocity? (falling bodies)


What's the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions ?