A car, mass m1 is moving to the right on a frictionless air track. It collides w

Question

A car, mass m1 is moving to the right on a frictionless air track. It collides with a second car, mass m2, which is initially at rest. Which of the following statements are true? (If A and E are true, and the others are not, enter TFFFT).

A) Suppose (for this statement only) that car 2 was NOT initially at rest, but was instead heading towards car 1 with equal (but opposite) momentum before the collision. After the collision, the cars must both be at rest.

B) If car 1 sticks to car 2, the car1-car2 system must be at rest after the collision.

C) If the collision is elastic, car 1 will never come to a stop after the collision.

D) If car 1 sticks to car 2, the final total kinetic energy of the car1-car2 system is equal to the initial total kinetic energy of the two cars.

E) If car 1 is much lighter than m2, and the collision is perfectly elastic, car 1 will continue heading to the right with nearly its original speed after the collision.

Explanation / Answer

A) False

the cars can rebound and have total final momentum as 0

B)

False.

There is net initial momentum of the system . in inelastic collision , momentum has to be conserved. so the combination after the collision must move.

C)

False

D)

False

there is loss of kinetic energy in inelastic collision

E)

False

the direction of motion of car 1 will change as m2 > m1

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