Question

Two football players with mass 80 kg and 120 kg run directly toward each other with speeds of 8 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. if they grab each other as they collide, the combined speed of the two players just after the collision would be

Answer 1

The combined speed after the collision is -2.8 m/s.

How to get the combined speed?

Here we must have conservation of momentum, where momentum is the product between mass and velocity.

At the beginning, one of the players has a mass of 80kg and a velocity of 8m/s, so its momentum is:

P₁ = 80kg*(8m/s) = 640 kg*m/s

The other player has a mass of 120 kg and runs in the opposite direction at a speed of -10m/s (the negative sign is because of the direction). So its momentum is:

P₂ = 120kg*(-10m/s) = -1200 kg*m/s

The initial total momentum is:

P = P₁ + P₂ = 640 kg*m/s + ( -1200 kg*m/s) = -560 kg*m/s

At the end, the move together as a mass of (80kg + 120kg) = 200kg with a velocity V.

Such that the final total momentum is equal to the initial total momentum.

So we must have:

200kg*V =  -560 kg*m/s

V = (-560 kg*m/s)/200kg = -2.8 m/s.

The combined speed after the collision is -2.8 m/s.

If you want to learn more about collisions:

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