An object is at rest on the edge of a table. Another object movestowards the obj

Question

An object is at rest on the edge of a table. Another object movestowards the object and they collide and fall of the table. Given isthe mass of both objects, the height of the table, and the initialspeed of the first object. The objects stick together afterthe collision because of packing tape on their sides. Doesthe fact that its packing tape and not a natural inelasticcollision change anything about the situation? Also, it is asked tofind the final Kinetic Energy. I would have thought that thisonly means using the equation 1/2MVf^2. However, on Cramsteris says that the final KEf=mgh+1/2mvf^2. The value of theheight of the table is plugged in for h. I don't understandwhere this equation comes from and why the use of potential energyis needed.

Explanation / Answer

When the objects collide, we have an inelastic collision since theystick together. If they bounced off each other, that would be anelastic collision and both objects would go off in separatedirections so the energy would be dispersed. The reason for the energy being mgh+1/2mv^2 is because mgh ispotential energy. The equation is accounting for the objectsfalling off the table.

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