A steel ball of mass 0.500 kg is fastened to a cord that is 70.0 cm long and fixed at the far end. The ball is then released when the cord is horizontal. At the bottom of its path, the ball strikes a 2.50 kg steel block initially at rest on a frictionless surface. The collision is elastic. Find (a) the speed of the ball and (b) the speed of the block, both just after the collision.

a) The speed of the ball is 2.47 m/s (in -x direction)

b) The speed of the block, both just after the collision is 1.236 m/s (in +x direction)

Explanation:

Please look at the solution in the attached Word file.

  distance on the y-axis and time on the x-axis.

explanation:

the instantaneous velocity = change in position/time taken

the slope of the graph should give instantaneous velocity.

  slope of a graph = change in value of y -axis / change in values of x -axis

  comparing both the equations

    change in value of y -axis = change in position

  change in values of x -axis = time taken

so position values should be on the y axis and time values should be on the x axis.

distance on the y-axis and time on the x-axis.