If the collision is perfectly inelastic, the car will travel the same distance as the truck, because two bodies with equal momentum that undergo inelastic collision will accelerate to zero velocity at the point that the collision occurred. If the collision is fully elastic, then the kinetic...
We haven't discussed frictional forces very much or how to calculate them so I know friction will stop both vehicles but I don't know how far either will go, I just know that the car will travel farther, having less mass and higher velocity.
so this would mean that the car would travel farther than the truck? or is it indeterminate because we don't know from the question whether the collision is elastic or inelastic?
I know that the question says nothing about the elasticity of the collision but head on car collisions are generally inelastic so I took that as an assumption. This is the first homework assignment regarding forces and momentum and we really haven't gone over any of the equations except f=ma...
the vehicle's final velocities are zero because 1500*(20)+2400*(-12.5) = (1500+2400)*0
This is ALL of the information in the problem and my professor grades extremely hard on explanations, so I'm trying to make sure that I can say the correct thing, here.
Homework Statement
During the head on collision of a 1500kg car moving 20 m/s and a 2400 kg truck moving 12.5 m/s does the car move farther than, a shorter distance than, the same distance as the truck, or is this indeterminate with the given information.
Homework Equations...