What Determines the Outcome in an Elastic Collision Between Two Croquet Balls?

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on determining the mass of a second croquet ball involved in an elastic collision with a first ball of mass 0.180 kg. The second ball, initially at rest, moves off at half the speed of the first ball after the collision. Using the conservation of momentum and kinetic energy equations, participants derive the mass of the second ball and the fraction of kinetic energy transferred. The key equations used are the conservation of kinetic energy and momentum equations, which are essential for solving elastic collision problems.

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Homework Statement


A 0.180 kg croquet ball makes an elastic head-on collision with a second ball initially at rest. The second ball moves off with half the original speed of the first ball.(a) What is the mass of the second ball?(b) What fraction of the original kinetic energy (KE/KE) gets transferred to the second ball?



Homework Equations


a)1/2Mava^b+1/2Mbvb^2=1/2Mav2a^2+1/2Mbv2b^2

b)mava+mbvb=mav2a+mbv2b


The Attempt at a Solution


I solved for "v2a" using equation b and got mb2.77777va I then plugged this back into equation a and got (.5)(.18)(va)^2=(.5)(.18)((mb)(2.77777)(va))^2+(.5)(mb)((.5)(va))^2. If I've done this correctly I still don't know how to solve it correctly to find the mass of "ball b"
 
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You can factorize m_b from the right-hand side of your final equation. I haven't checked if it's correct but your method obviously is.
 

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