A red car and a blue car are driving in the same direction onthe interstate. The red car
is travelling at 25 m/s, while the blue car is travelling at 35m/s. The driver of the blue
car is not paying attention and rear-ends the red car. The redcar has a mass of 2,000
kg while the blue car is only 1,000 kg.
a. Prior to the collision, what is the value of the center ofmass kinetic energy?
b. In order for this collision to be isolated, what is themaximum amount of energy
that can be converted to other forms during the collision? Whatpercentage of
the initial kinetic energy does this represent?
c. If the system loses 40% of its kinetic energy in thecollision, is the system
isolated? Why or why not?
d. Prior to the collision, how fast and in what direction wouldyou need to be
travelling in order for the system to appear to have zeromomentum?
e. Regardless of your answer to part (c), assume now that thetwo vehicles form
an isolated system. If they cars stick together, how fast willthey be moving?
f. What minimum amount of kinetic energy must be conserved inorder for this
system to be isolated?
