Question

A train car with mass m1 = 663 kg is moving to the right with a speed of v1 = 8.8 m/s and collides with a second train car. The two cars latch together during the collision and then move off to the right at vf = 5.3 m/s. 1)What is the initial momentum of the first train car?

Answer 1

Answer: 5.83*10^3 m*Kg/s^2 to the right

Explanation: In order to solve this problem we have to consider the definition of momentum which is given by:

P=m*v= in this case for the train car #1  it has v1initial= 8.8 m/s and mass equal to 663 Kg, then we can culculate the initial momento for train car number 1:

P1initial=663 Kg*8.8 m/s=5.83 *10^3  m*Kg/s^2 directed to the right