Worksheet - Conservation of Momentum

Worksheet - Momentum - Conservation of Momentum 1 1. A 16 kg canoe moving to the right at 12 m/s makes an elastic head on collision with a 4 kg raft moving to the left at 6 m/s. After the collision, the raft moves to the right at 22.7 m/s. Find the velocity of the canoe after the collision. 2. A 4 kg bowling ball sliding to the right at 8 m/s has an elastic head on collision with another 4 kg bowling ball initially at rest. The first ball stops after the collision. Find the velocity of the second ball after the collision. 3. A 1500 kg car traveling at 15 m/s to the south collides with a 4500 kg truck that is initially at rest at a stoplight. The car and truck stick together. What is the final velocity of the two entangled vehicles? 4. A grocery shopper tosses a 9 kg bag of rice into a stationary 18 kg grocery cart. The bag hits the cart with a horizontal speed of 5.5 m/s toward the front of the cart. What is the final speed of the cart and bag? 5. A 1.5x104 kg railroad car moving at 7 m/s to the north collides with and sticks to another railroad car of the same mass that is moving in the same direction at 1.5 m/s. What is the velocity of the joined cars after the collision? 6. A dry cleaner throws a 22 kg bag of laundry onto a stationary 9 kg cart. The cart and laundry bag begin moving at 3 m/s to the right. Find the velocity of the laundry bag before the collision. 7. A 47.4 kg student runs down the sidewalk and jumps with a horizontal speed of 4.0 m/s onto a stationary skateboard. The student and skateboard move down the sidewalk with a speed of 3.95 m/s. What is the mass of the skateboard? 8. Suppose carts on air track have the same mass. They move toward each other at the same speed and stick together when they collide (called a perfectly inelastic collision.) Describe the motion after the collision. 9. Suppose cart A has a mass of 3m and is moving at speed v. Cart B has a mass of m and is at rest. Cart A collides perfectly inelastically with cart B. What is their combined speed after the collision? 10. In terms of momentum conservation, why does a gun “kick” when fired? 11. Imagine that you are hovering next to the space shuttle in an earth-orbit and your buddy of equal mass who is moving at 4 km/h with respect to the ship bumps into you. If he holds onto you, how fast do you both move with respect to the ship? 12. Comic strip hero Superman meets an asteroid in outer space and hurls it at 100 m/s. The asteroid is 1000 times more massive than Superman is. In the comic strip, Superman is seen at rest after the throw. Taking physics into account, what would be his recoil speed? (Assume that before the throw, Superman and the asteroid are both at rest.) 13. A 4000 kg truck traveling at 10 m/s collides with a 1000 kg car that is at rest. Answer the following questions concerning the collision. (Circle all that apply. Consider only the magnitude of the values, ignore the fact that some are negative numbers.) A) Which experiences a larger force? truck or car or B) Which experiences a larger impulse? truck or car or C) Which experiences a larger change in momentum? truck or car or D) Which experiences a larger change in velocity? truck or or neither 14. A 1000 kg car increases speed from 5 m/s to 10 m/s over the course of one second. Separately, a 3000 kg truck increases speed from 5 m/s to 10 m/s over the course of one second A) Which experiences a larger force? car or or neither B) Which experiences a larger impulse? car or or neither C) Which experiences a larger change in momentum? car or or neither D) Which experiences a larger change in velocity? car or truck or