Question

A small, 200 g cart is moving at 1.50 m/s on an air track when it collides with a larger, 2.00 kg cart at rest. After the collision, the small cart recoils at 0.890 m/s.
Q: What is the speed of the large cart after the collision?

How do you set this up? Would it be like (mass of small cart)/(mass of large cart)*1.50m/s? but then how do you use the 0.890 m/s?

Answer 1

Assume linear momentum is conserved.

0.2*1.50 = 0.2*(-0.89) + 2.0*V
0.30 + 1.78 = 2.0 V
V = 1.04 m/s

Answer 2

Start with the law of conservation of momentum:
initial momentum=final momentum
200(1.5)+0=200(-.890)+2000*V
solve for V.

Answer 3

"Cat21". Please refrain from posting questions under different names.