Two ice pucks slide frictionlessly along a straight line on a horizontal rink
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Work, Energy and Power · Work, Energy and Power
Problem
Two ice pucks slide frictionlessly along a straight line on a horizontal rink. Puck P (mass 0.20 kg) travels east at 4.0 m s^−1, while Puck Q (mass 0.30 kg) travels west at 2.0 m s^−1. The pucks collide head-on and stick together.
(a) Taking east as the positive direction, calculate the speed and direction of the combined pucks immediately after the collision.
(b) Determine the change in linear momentum of each individual puck as a vector quantity.
(c) Verify that the vector sum of the momentum changes you found in part (b) is consistent with the result of part (a). Show all work.
(d) Calculate the total kinetic energy lost in the collision and indicate whether that energy loss is larger, smaller, or equal to the loss that would occur if the two pucks had had equal masses. Justify your comparison qualitatively.