Finding velocity after inelastic collision between car and truck

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
4 replies · 2K views
sadaf.10
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
hi i am doing physics 30 by modules after doing it by class. and i am having a hard time working this question out.

A car with a mass of 1400kg is westbound at 50km/h. it collides at an intersection with a northbound truck having a mass of 2000kg and traveling at 40km/h. what is the inital common velocity of the car and truck immediatley after the collision if they have an inelastic collision?

i did all my conversions but i just can't figure out the proper steps in receiving the answer.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Momentum should be conservered along both the x and y axes. Write some eqns to express the momenta before and after the collision--the mass of the car/truck is just the sum of the two individually.
 
so i don't really have to worry about the inelastic collision.
because i was stuck on that part.
just go along with finding the inital momentum and final and go from there?
 
Inelastic collisions only effect the conservation of kinetic energy, not momentum.