Two asteroids collide head-on and stick together. Before the collision, asteroid A (mass 1,000 kg) moved at 100 m/s, and asteroid B (mass 2,000 kg) moved at 80 m/s in the opposite direction. Use momentum conservation (make a complete Momentum Chart) to find the velocity of the asteroids after the collision.

20 m/s in the direction of asteroid B

Explanation:

The total momentum before the collision

where are the masses of the 2 asteroid and are their velocities. is negative because it's in the opposite direction with velocity of A

P = 1000*100 - 2000*80 = 100000 - 160000 = -60000 kgm/s

In the law of momentum conservation, the total momentum is conserved before and after the collision. Since after the collision, both of them stick together. The system mass is the total mass of the 2

M = 1000 + 2000 = 3000 kg

Their final velocity

v = P/M = -60000 / 3000 = -20 m/s or 20 m/s in the direction of asteroid B