Can Anyone Help Me With This Physics Problem??
A block of mass m = 2.02 kg slides down a 30.8 ° incline which is h = 3.46 m high. At the bottom, it strikes a block of mass M = 6.90 kg which is at rest on a horizontal surface. (Assume a smooth transition at the bottom of the incline.) If the collision is perfectly elastic, and friction can be ignored, determine the speed of the smaller block and larger box after the collision.
Please help with any advice on how to solve this problem. It seems like there is not enough information to go on.
2006-12-03 12:31:15 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
You do have enough info. You can get the speed at the bottom by considering that the potential energy (mgh)will all be converted to kinetic ((1/2)mv^2) at the bottom of the ramp.
Then in a collision that is perfectly elastic, both momentum and energy are conserved. A bunch of math and the fact that the 2nd block is at rest gives the equations
v1 = (m1-m2)u1/(m1+m2)
v2 = 2m1*u1/(m1+m2)
2006-12-03 14:06:25 · answer #1 · answered by sojsail 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to reach into your "bag of tricks" for this one.
The general strategy is to determine the velocity of the first block at the time of impact. Then, taking that velocity, you can use the conservation of momentum equation (m1v1 = m2v2) to determine the velocity of the second block.
2006-12-03 12:34:24 · answer #2 · answered by sep_n 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋