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a piece of clay with mass m is traveling with an unknown velocity in the positive x-direction, when it collides and sticks to a block of mass 3m, moving with velocity v=-3m/s. after the collision, the block and clay are stuck together and traveling with a velocity of 1 m/s in the negative x-direction. what was the original velocity of the clay mass?

Sagot :

Answer:

[tex]5\ \text{m/s}[/tex]

Explanation:

[tex]m_1[/tex] = Mass of clay = m

[tex]m_2[/tex] = Mass of block = 3m

[tex]u[/tex] = Velocity of clay

[tex]v[/tex] = Velocity of block = -3 m/s

[tex]v_c[/tex] = Velocity of combined mass = -1 m/s

As mometum in the system is conserved we get

[tex]m_1u+m_2v=(m_1+m_2)v_c\\\Rightarrow u=\dfrac{(m_1+m_2)v_c-m_2v}{m_1}\\\Rightarrow u=\dfrac{(m+3m)\times -1-3m\times -3}{m}\\\Rightarrow u=\dfrac{5m}{5}\\\Rightarrow u=5\ \text{m/s}[/tex]

The original velocity of the clay mass was [tex]5\ \text{m/s}[/tex].