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The drawing shows a collision between two pucks on an air-hockey table. Puck A h

ID: 1965207 • Letter: T

Question

The drawing shows a collision between two pucks on an air-hockey table. Puck A has a mass of 0.038 kg and is moving along the x axis with a velocity of +5.5 m/s. It makes a collision with puck B, which has a mass of 0.068 kg and is initially at rest. The collision is not head-on. After the collision, the two pucks fly apart with the angles shown in the drawing.

Here is a link to the same question with the figure:
http://www.cramster.com/answers-nov-06/physics/collision-air-hockey-pucks-drawing-shows-collision-pucks-anair-hoc_29029.aspx

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have looked at every one of these similiar problems on chegg and haven't been able to reduplicate solving the answer. I realize that you have two unknowns and you have to solve for one and plug in but I haven't been able to get the right answer. I suspect that I am doing the algebra wrong. Can someone please give step-by-step guide to solving this? Algebra included? Solving for the correct numerical is also a must.

Thanks. I know it's a lot for one question but I am thoroughly confused!

Explanation / Answer

The collision is two dimensional collision. The momentum is conserved along the horizontal and also perpendicular to the direction of collision.      along the direction of collision                m1 u1 + 0 = m1 V1 cos 65 + m2 V2 cos 37 ......(1)             (0.038)(5.5) = (0.038) V1 cos 65 + (0.068) V2 cos 37......(2)            momentum perpendicular to the direction of impact is         0 + 0 = m1 V1 sin 65 - m2 V2 sin 37 .......(3)            m1 V1 sin 65 = m2 V2 sin 37          V1 / V2 = m2 sin 37 / m1 sin 65                        = (0.068) sin 37 / (0.038) sin 65                        = 1.1883             V1 = 1.1883 V2 .......(4) Substituting equation (4) in (2)           (0.038)(5.5) = (0.038) (1.1883) V2 cos 65 + (0.068) V2 cos 37            (0.038)(5.5) = 0.07339 V2      Solving for V2 (speed of the blue puck )           V2 =2.8478m/s Now substituting this value in eq (4) for speed of the red puck         V1 = (1.1883)(2.8478)              = 3.384m/s   
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