Angle Calculation for Car-Truck Collision

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a collision problem involving a car and a truck, where the car is moving east and the truck is moving south. Participants are tasked with determining the angle at which the combined vehicle travels after the collision.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the need to add momentum vectors to find the resultant angle. There are questions about how to incorporate angles into the calculations and the relevance of mass in the context of the problem.

Discussion Status

Some participants have suggested starting with momentum calculations and using trigonometric functions to find the angle. There is acknowledgment of the challenges posed by the masses given in the problem, and the discussion is exploring various interpretations of the collision principles.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the unrealistic mass values for the vehicles involved, which may affect their understanding of the problem context. There is also a mention of the frustration with the provided masses, indicating a potential barrier to engagement with the problem.

aszymans
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Car Truck Collisins w/ ANGLES!

Homework Statement



A blue car with mass mc = 431 kg is moving east with a speed of vc = 19 m/s and collides with a purple truck with mass mt = 1298 kg that is moving south with a speed of vt = 12 m/s . The two collide and lock together after the collision.



Homework Equations


What is the angle that the car-truck combination travel after the collision? (give your answer as an angle South of East


The Attempt at a Solution



I have no idea, something to do with adding the vectors. I just don't know how to incorporate the angle
 
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aszymans said:

Homework Statement



A blue car with mass mc = 431 kg is moving east with a speed of vc = 19 m/s and collides with a purple truck with mass mt = 1298 kg that is moving south with a speed of vt = 12 m/s . The two collide and lock together after the collision.



Homework Equations


What is the angle that the car-truck combination travel after the collision? (give your answer as an angle South of East


The Attempt at a Solution



I have no idea, something to do with adding the vectors. I just don't know how to incorporate the angle

You will be adding the momentum vectors - so start by using mass and velocity for each vehicle to get the momentum of each.

NOTE: These questions are really frustrating in the masses used [not your fault].
The minimum weight of a Formula 1 racing car [a glorified go-cart] is 640 kg. The idea of having a car of mass 431 kg is fanciful.
A modern Small car has a mass around 1000 kg, and even a small truck will have a mass around 3000 kg.
 


Which principle do you think we usually use in a collision problem?
 


grzz said:
Which principle do you think we usually use in a collision problem?

I'm assuming that was rhetorical. :P

I think you should just find the resultant of the momentum vectors, and then arctan[(y-component)/(x-component)] (components of resultant) should give you the angle.
 


I was encouraging the original poster to a better attemp!
 


Right. Sorry.
 

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