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Ch 11: Impulse and Momentum
Chapter 11, Problem 11

A 20 g ball of clay traveling east at 3.0 m/s collides with a 30 g ball of clay traveling north at 2.0 m/s. What are the speed and the direction of the resulting 50 g ball of clay? Give your answer as an angle north of east.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Conservation of Momentum

The principle of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum of a closed system remains constant if no external forces act on it. In collisions, the momentum before the collision equals the momentum after the collision. This concept is crucial for solving problems involving collisions, as it allows us to calculate the resulting velocity of the combined masses.
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Vector Addition

Vector addition is the process of combining two or more vectors to determine a resultant vector. In this problem, the velocities of the two clay balls are vectors with both magnitude and direction. To find the resultant velocity after the collision, we must add these vectors using their components, which involves breaking them down into their eastward and northward components.
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Resultant Velocity and Direction

The resultant velocity is the overall velocity of an object after combining multiple velocity vectors. It can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem for magnitude and trigonometric functions to find the direction. In this scenario, the angle north of east can be determined using the arctangent function, which relates the northward and eastward components of the resultant velocity.
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