A ball with a mass of 6kg is rolling at 24ms and elastically collides with a resting ball with a mass of 3kg. What are the post-collision velocities of the balls?
1 Answer
Jul 7, 2017
Explanation:
Momentum is conserved in all collisions, but an elastic collision is one in which both momentum and mechanical energy are conserved. For elastic collisions, we use these equations to determine unknown values:
v1=(m1−m2m1+m2)v1o+(2m2m1+m2)v2o
v2=(2m1m1+m2)v1o−(m1−m2m1+m2)v2o
We are given
We can use each equation to solve for
v1=(6kg−3kg6kg+3kg)(24ms)+0
=8ms
v2=(2(6kg)6kg+3kg)(24ms)−0
=32ms
You can verify this answer using momentum and energy conservation.