A 2.1-kg cart is rolling along a frictionless, horizontal track towards a 1.9-kg

Question

A 2.1-kg cart is rolling along a frictionless, horizontal track towards a 1.9-kg cart that is held initially at rest. The carts are loaded with strong magnets that cause them to attract one another. Thus, the speed of each cart increases. At a certain instant before the carts collide, the first cart's velocity is +3.9 m/s, and the second cart's velocity is -1.7 m/s. (a) What is the total momentum of the system of the two carts at this instant? (b) What was the velocity of the first cart when the second cart was still at rest?

Explanation / Answer

the equation for momentum is P=m*v. P is a vector as is velocity, so be sure to take into account the directions of each cart's velocity when determining the total system's momentum. Find each cart's momentum, remember the direction of the momentums, and sum them to a final momentum. For the second part of the question, I believe that it can be assumed that the rate of acceleration between the two is going to be the same. For that reason, the second cart sped up to 1.7m/s from zero at the same rate the first cart sped up to 3.9m/s from its initial speed. Try determining the first cart's speed from there

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