Chapter 8, Problem 8.102P

DATA For the Texas Department of Public Safety, you are investigating an accident that occurred early on a foggy morning in a remote section of the Texas Panhandle. A 2012 Prius traveling due north collided in a highway intersection with a 2013 Dodge Durango that was traveling due east. After the collision, the wreckage of the two vehicles was locked together and skidded across the level ground until it struck a tree. You measure that the tree is 35 ft from the point of impact. The line from the point of impact to the tree is in a direction 39° north of east. From experience, you estimate that the coefficient of kinetic friction between the ground and the wreckage is 0.45. Shortly before the collision, a highway patrolman with a radar gun measured the speed of the Prius to be 50 mph and, according to a witness, the Prius driver made no attempt to slow down. Four people with a total weight of 460 lb were in the Durango. The only person in the Prius was the 150-lb driver. The Durango with its passengers had a weight of 6500 lb, and the Prius with its driver had a weight of 3042 lb. (a) What was the Durango’s speed just before the collision? (b) How fast was the wreckage traveling just before it struck the tree?