Answer:
v₁ = 3.5 m/s
v₂ = 6.4 m/s
Explanation:
We have the following data:
m₁ = mass of trailing car = 400 kg
m₂ = mass of leading car = 400 kg
u₁ = initial speed of trailing car = 6.4 m/s
u₂ = initial speed of leading car = 3.5 m/s
v₁ = final speed of trailing car = ?
v₂ = final speed of leading car = ?
The final speed of the leading car is given by the following formula:
[tex]v_2=\frac{2m_1}{m_1+m_2}u_1-\frac{m_1-m_2}{m_1+m_2}u_2\\\\v_2=\frac{(2)(400\ kg)}{400\ kg+400\ kg}(6.4\ m/s)-\frac{400\ kg-400\ kg}{400\ kg + 400\ kg}(3.5\ m/s)[/tex]
v₂ = 6.4 m/s
The final speed of the leading car is given by the following formula:
[tex]v_1=\frac{m_1-m_2}{m_1+m_2}u_1+\frac{2m_2}{m_1+m_2}u_2\\\\v_1=\frac{400\ kg-400\ kg}{400\ kg + 400\ kg}(6.4\ m/s)+\frac{(2)(400\ kg)}{400\ kg+400\ kg}(3.5\ m/s)[/tex]
v₁ = 3.5 m/s