Having honed your driving skills in Boston, you interpret a changing traffic lig

Question

Having honed your driving skills in Boston, you interpret a changing traffic light as an indication that you should step on the gas! Alas, you 'meet' another Boston driver at an intersection. The tangled mess (i.e., this is definitely an inelastic collision) that was once two cars comes to rest a few meters from the point of impact. Although much is lost in such an event, some things are not. Conserved in that very short time after the impact a) are the kinetic energy and momentum of the two cars. b) is the kinetic energy of the more massive car. c) is the momentum only of the more massive car. d) is the total kinetic energy but not the momentum. e) is the total momentum but not the kinetic energy.

Explanation / Answer

e) is the correct answer as only total momentum is conserved of the system and not of a particular body The internal forces during collision caused the individual momentum to change, however total momentum did not.Regarding kinetic energy, some part of the total energy is lost as heat or sound energy as it is an inelastic collision.

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