A railroad car having a mass of 15 Mg is coasting at 1.5 m/s on a horizontal track. At the same time another car having a mass of 12 Mg is coasting at 0.75 m/s in the opposite direction. If the cars meet and couple together, determine the speed of both cars just after the coupling. Find the difference between the total kinetic energy before and after coupling has occurred. Explain qualitatively what happened to this energy.

Explanation:

We shall apply law of conservation of momentum to know velocity after collision . Let it be v .

total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision

15 x 1.5 - 12 x .75 = ( 15 + 12 ) v

v = .5 m /s

kinetic energy before collision

1/2 x 15 x 1.5² + 1/2 x 12 x .75²

= 16.875 + 3.375

= 20.25 J

kinetic energy after collision

= 1/2 x ( 15 + 12 ) x .5²

= 3.375 J

Loss of energy = 16.875 J

This energy appear as heat and sound energy that is produced during collision .

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