Probie1 said:
Okay let's try again.
weight 13158kg
heading 0 deg
departure 179
impact velocity 0.0246 m/s
departure velocity 0.49 m/s
weight 1726 kg
heading 190
departure 245
impact velocity 4.374 m/s
departure velocity 0.91 m/s
*V1ix = in V1ox = out
V1ix = 13158 * .0246 = 323.6868
V2ix = 1726 * -4.30 = -7421.8
V1ox = 1318 * -0.489 = -6434.262
V2ox = 1726 * -0.384 = -662.784
V1iy = .0246 * sin 0 = 0
V2iy = 1726 * -0.759 = -1310.034
V1oy = 13258 * 0.008 = 105.264
V2oy = 1726 * -0.824 = -1422.224
P1i = xxxx i + yyyy j
P1i = 323.6868 = 323.6868 + 0 Veh1 in
P2i = -6111.766 = -7421.8 + -1310.034 Veh2 in
P1o = -6328.998 = -6434.262 + 105.264 Veh1 out
P2o = -2085.008 = -662.784 + -1422.224 Veh2 out
I'm not sure what the values in red are meant to represent, but you've got the components of the vectors displayed which is good. The values are a little imprecise, perhaps due to not keeping enough significant figures in intermediate results (such as values of sin or cos)? Also, you should keep include the "i: and "j" in the notation to make sure that it is clear which component is which. That way in some future problem when you're dealing with THREE components and not just two, you can keep them straight when, say, the "j" component happens to be zero...
I figure the vectors should look like:
p1i = 323.687 i + 0.000 j
p2i = -7434.830 i - 1310.961 j
p1o = -6446.483 i + 112.523 j
p2o = -663.790 i - 1423.501 j
Note that I've kept three decimal places for these intermediate results. This will help prevent rounding errors from getting into the final results.
Now, in order to find the initial momentum vector you should add vectors p1i and p2i. That means summing their like components (add the x components, add the y components, and end up with Pi = xxxxxx i + yyyyyy j).
Do the same with the final momenta, adding p1o and p2o.
What do you get?