Physics of a Rear-End Collision

time t

0.

mass 1

500.

velocity 1

70.

mass 2

1500.

velocity 2

30.

Two cars travel in the same direction on a slippery road. Initially they are 16 m apart. They have a rear-end collision at time

t

c

and travel together after that. Their masses are

m

1

(blue) and

m

2

(red), and their velocities are

v

1

and

v

2

. Using conservation of momentum, the velocity after the collision is calculated, as is the kinetic energy lost in the collision.