find the final speed of the couple?

Question

two ice skaters approach each other at right angles. skater A has a mass of 22.6 kg and travels in the +x direction at 2.89 m/s. skater B has a mass of 86.5 kg and is moving in the +y direction at 1.7 m/s. they collide and cling together. find the final speed of the couple?

Answer 1

In an inelastic collision such as this, momentum is conserved

Since velocity is a vector quantity, consider x an y separately

22.6*2.89=(22.6+86.5)*vx
vx=22.6*2.89/(22.6+86.5)

.60

86.5*1.7=(22.6+86.5)*vy
vy=86.5*1.7/(22.6+86.5)
1.34


The final speed is
sqrt(vx^2 +vy^2)
1.47

j

Answer 2

0m/s