Colliding Cars

t

0.25

m

1

1000.

m

2

1000.

v

1

86.4

v

2

90.

Two cars collide at an intersection as shown in the figure. They have masses

m

1

and

m

2

and velocities

v

1

and

v

2

;

t

is time. Assume that the collision is perfectly inelastic in two dimensions—the two objects stick together with a great deal of kinetic energy lost. The final velocity and the angle that the cars follow when they move off after the crash are calculated using the law of conservation of momentum.