well, you do indeed find the velocity of the large bead, but, you have to then find the distance it travels in 2 seconds.
Momentum
initial=final
.5*1.5=.5(-.70)+7.50(V)
V= (.75+.35)/7.50 cm/s
distance= V*2
check my math, I did it in my head.
A 0.500 kg bead slides on a straight frictionless wire with a velocity of 1.50 cm/s to the right. The bead collides elastically with a larger 0.750 kg bead initially at rest. After the collision, the smaller bead moves to the left with a velocity of 0.70 cm/s. Find the distance the larger bead moves along the wire in the first 2.0 s following the collision.
We've never done a problem like this in class. I tried finding the velocity of the other bead and plugging it into a kinematic equation but the answer was wrong.
3 answers
why does V*2 = distance?
Because he found the velocity per second so you have to multiply by two to get the answer for two seconds