A man of mass m1 = 70.0 kg is skating at v1 = 8.00 m/s behind his wife of mass m2 = 50.0 kg, who is skating at v2 = 4.00 m/s. Instead of passing her, he inadvertently collides with her. He grabs her around the waist, and they maintain their balance. (a) Sketch the problem with before-and-after diagrams, representing the skaters as blocks. (b) Is the collision best described as elastic, inelastic, or perfectly inelastic? Why? (c) Write the general equation for conservation of momentum in terms of m1, v1, m2 , v2 , and final velocity vf . (d) Solve the momentum equation for vf . (e) Substitute values, obtaining the numerical value for vf , their speed after the collision.
A man of mass m1 = 70.0 kg is skating at v1 = 8.00 m/s behind his wife of mass m2 = 50.0 kg, who is skating at v2 = 4.00 m/s. Instead of passing her, he inadvertently collides with her. He grabs her around the waist, and they maintain their balance. (a) Sketch the problem with before-and-after diagrams, representing the skaters as blocks. (b) Is the collision best described as elastic, inelastic, or perfectly inelastic? Why? (c) Write the general equation for conservation of momentum in terms of m1, v1, m2 , v2 , and final velocity vf . (d) Solve the momentum equation for vf . (e) Substitute values, obtaining the numerical value for vf , their speed after the collision.
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