A small steel block of mass slides without friction along a horizontal track and…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A small steel block of mass 0.50kg slides without friction along a horizontal track and collides with a stationary block of mass 1.50kg placed on the same track. After impact the two blocks stick together and move as a single body.
(i) If the initial speed of the small block was 8.0ms−1, calculate the speed of the combined system immediately after the collision.
(ii) Determine the percentage loss of kinetic energy as a result of the collision.
(iii) State two practical reasons, based on the nature of the interaction, why collisions of this type are often used to measure impulse in laboratory experiments.