PHYSICS · Subjective · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A lump of clay of mass 0.50kg slides along a horizontal, frictionless table with a speed of 10ms−1 and sticks to an initially stationary cart of mass 4.5kg placed on the same table.
(i) Find the speed of the cart–clay system immediately after the collision.
(ii) After moving together for a while, the clay drops vertically through a hole in the cart without exerting any horizontal force on the cart during its fall. Determine the horizontal speed of the cart just after the clay has left it.
(iii) Calculate (a) the percentage loss of kinetic energy during the collision and (b) the additional percentage loss of the system’s kinetic energy that occurs when the clay separates from the cart.