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diorific
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Homework Statement
I'm having difficulties trying to figure this out, can you please help? Many thanks.
Car A is traveling at a steady speed of 15ms−1 (approximately 32mph)
in a straight line when it is hit from the left by car B. Each car has the
same mass, and it can be assumed that they can each be modeled as a
particle. The two cars coalesce after the collision and travel in a straight
line at a direction of 75◦ to the original direction of car A, as shown in the
diagram below, where X is the point of collision.
The diagram is a plan view, and k is directed vertically upwards.
(a) The suggested alignments for the unit vectors are parallel and
perpendicular to the direction of the coalesced cars, as shown in the
diagram. Write down the momentum of each car before the collision
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
Using the notation P.before and P.after for the total linear momentum before and after and vB for the velocity of B, we have
PA.before= m(15cos75)i + m(15sin75)j
PB.before= m*vB(i+J)
The thing is because i don't have the angle for B I'm not sure if the above is correct.