A railroad car rolling along by itself is passing by a grain elevator, which is dumping grain into it at a constant rate. (a) Does momentum conservation imply that the railroad car should be slowing down as it passes the grain elevator? Assume that the track is frictionless and perfectly level and that the grain is falling vertically. (b) If the car is slowing down, this situation implies that there is some external force acting on the car to slow it down. Where does this force come from? (c) After passing the elevator, the railroad car springs a leak, and grain starts leaking out of a vertical hole in its floor at a constant rate. Should the car speed up as it loses mass?
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I will be happy to critique your thinking on this.
I am unable to visualize a rolling railroad car passing by a grain elevator
1 answer