A truck with a mass of 1370 kg and moving with a speed of 12.0 m/s rear-ends a 593 kg car stopped at an intersection. The collision is approximately elastic since the car is in neutral, the brakes are off, the metal bumpers line up well and do not get damaged. Find the speed of both vehicles after the collision in meters per second.

speed of car after collision, v2 =16.1 m/s and of the truck, v1 = 4.6 m/s

Explanation:

Given:

mass of truck M = 1370 kg

speed of truck = 12.0 m/s

mass of car m = 593 kg

collision is elastic therefore,

Applying law of momentum conservation we have

momentum before collision = momentum after collision

1370×12 + 0( initially car is at rest) = 1370×v1+ 593×v2               (i)

Also for a collision to be elastic,

velocity of approach = velocity of separation

12 -0 = v2-v1                  (ii)

using (i) and (ii) we have

So speed of car after collision, v2 =16.1 m/s and of the truck, v1 = 4.6 m/s