Elastic Collision, Finding Angles Between Particles

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on solving an elastic collision problem involving two particles with masses m1 and m2. The first particle, moving with an initial speed v0, strikes a stationary second particle and scatters at an angle of 30 degrees with a final speed of v0/3. The conservation of momentum must be applied in both the x and y axes to determine the angle between the two particles after the collision, while the conservation of energy provides the necessary relationship to find the final speed of m2, which is calculated to be 2/3v0.

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  • Understanding of elastic collisions in physics
  • Knowledge of conservation of momentum and energy principles
  • Familiarity with vector decomposition in two dimensions
  • Basic algebra for solving equations
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  • Study the principles of elastic collisions in detail
  • Learn how to apply conservation of momentum in two dimensions
  • Explore vector decomposition techniques for analyzing particle motion
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Physics students, educators, and anyone interested in understanding the mechanics of particle collisions and the application of conservation laws in two-dimensional scenarios.

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Hi, here's my problem.

A particle of m1 and initial speed v0 strikes a stationary particle of mass m2, and scatters at 30 degrees to its original direction with speed v0/3. Find the angle, in degrees, between the directions of the two particles after the collision.

I found that the velocity of the m2 after the collision to be 2/3v0 due to conservation of energy.

Can anyone give me ideas on how to find the contained angle? Thank you.
 
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You need to use conservation of momentum as well. In this case you have a 2D case so write momenta along two axes (x and y) and their conservation for each axis.

How can you find the speed from energy conservation, as long as you don't know the masses?
 

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