College Physics (4th Edition)

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 0073512141
ISBN 13: 978-0-07351-214-3

Chapter 7 - Problems - Page 262: 1

Answer

The magnitude of the total momentum of the system is 0.

Work Step by Step

Let the mass of each car be $m$. Let $v_1 = 19~m/s$ be the velocity of one car. Then $v_2 = -19~m/s$ is the velocity of the other car. We can find the total momentum of the system: $m~v_1+m~v_2 = (1300~kg)~(19~m/s)+(1300~kg)~(-19~m/s) = 0$ The magnitude of the total momentum of the system is 0.
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