Question

A 1000kg space craft at 500m/s is on a collision course with a 400kg satellite travelling at 700m/s. Their paths are converging at a 45 degree angle. After the collision, they remain locked together.
a) calculate their final speed
b) calculate the quantity of non-kinetic energy that is created by the collision

a) using conservation of momentum, i found the final speed to be 518m/s.
b) because it is a completely inelastic collision, kinetic energy is not conserved so..
initial energy=final energy
sum of kinetic energy of the space craft and satellite(initial)= sum of kinetic energy final (mass of the space craft and satellite X 518m/s) + non-kinetic energy
and then solve for non-kinetic energy.. but i didn't get the right answer? can someone help me out please?

Answer 1

from the conservation of momentum, you get the new velocity. Use that velocity to compute energy.

initial KE-heat=finalke
solve for heat.