A ball falls straight down onto a wedge that is sitting on frictionless ice. The

Question

A ball falls straight down onto a wedge that is sitting on frictionless ice. The ball has a mass of 2.79 kg, and the wedge has a mass of 4.60 kg. The ball is moving a speed v = 5.0 m/s when it strikes the wedge, which is initially at rest (see the figure). Assuming that the collision is instantaneous and perfectly elastic, what are the velocities of the ball and the wedge after the collision?

  magnitude direction ball   right wedge    left   A ball falls straight down onto a wedge that is sitting on frictionless ice. The ball has a mass of 2.79 kg, and the wedge has a mass of 4.60 kg. The ball is moving a speed v = 5.0 m/s when it strikes the wedge, which is initially at rest (see the figure). Assuming that the collision is instantaneous and perfectly elastic, what are the velocities of the ball and the wedge after the collision?

Explanation / Answer

If the collision is perfectly elastic, the ball will move in a direction at an angle of 45+45=90 degree from its original path, i.e it will move in a horizontal direction to the right with a velocity of 5m/s (no loss) However, as the momentum must remain conserved, the wedge will move with a velocity v to the lest given by 4.6*v=2.79*5 v=3.032 m/s to the left.

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