Nate the Skate was an avid physics student whose main non-physics interest in li

Question

Nate the Skate was an avid physics student whose main non-physics interest in life was high-speed skateboarding. In particular, Nate would often don a protective suit of Bounce-Tex, which he invented, and after working up a high speed on his skateboard, would collide with some object. In this way, he got a gut feel for the physical properties of collisions and succeeded in combining his two passions.* On one occasion, the Skate, with a mass of 123 kg, including his armor, hurled himself against a 895-kg stationary statue of Isaac Newton in a perfectly elastic linear collision. As a result, Isaac started moving at 1.59 m/s and Nate bounced backward. What were Nate's speeds immediately before and after the collision? (Enter positive numbers.) Ignore friction with the ground.

Explanation / Answer

by momentum conservation

m1u1 + m2u2 = m1v1 + m2v2

and u1 - u2 = v2 - v1

so

123 *u1 + 895*0 = 123*v1 + 895*1.59-------------------1

and

u1 - 0 = 1.59 - v1

u1 = 1.59 - v1-------------------------------------------2

substituing from 2 in 1

u1 = 6.57 m/s is the nates speed before collisions (FORWARDS)

v1 = -4.989 m/s is the nates speed after collsion (BACKWARDS)

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