You are given two carts, a and
b. they look identical and you are told that they are made of the same material. you place a at rest on an air track and give b a constant velocity directed to the right so that it collides elastically with
a. after the collision, both carts move to the right, the velocity of b being smaller than what it was before the collision. what do you conclude?

Respuesta :

The mass of a is smaller than the mass of b.

The final momentum of cart a is greater than the final momentum of cart b, while the initial momentum of cart b is greater than initial momentum of cart a.

The given parameters;

mass of the first cart, m₁ = a

mass of the second cart, m₂ = b

initial velocity of first cart, u₁ = 0

initial velocity of the second cart, = u₂

The principle of conservation of linear momentum states, the sum of the initial momentum must equal sum of the final momentum.

The initial momentum of the two cart:

[tex]P_b_i > P_a_i[/tex]

The final momentum of the two carts;

[tex]P_a_f > P_b_f[/tex]

Apply conservation of linear momentum;

[tex]P_a_i + P_b_i = P_a_f + P_b_f\\\\P_a_i - P_a_f = P_b_f - P_b_i[/tex]

Thus, we can conclude that the final momentum of cart a is greater than the final momentum of cart b.

Learn more here:https://brainly.com/question/24424291

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