A 20 g ball of clay traveling east at 4.5 m/s collides with a 45 g ball of clay traveling north at 2.0 m/s. You may want to review (Page 280) . Part A What is the speed of the resulting 65 g ball of clay

The ball travels with a speed of 1.96 m/s in a North East direction

Explanation:

Based on the law of conservation of linear momentum, we have that

Since this problem involves motion in both the x and y coordinates, we will solve it in the separate coordinates, and then find the resultant as our answer.

Momentum in the x- direction

in the x direction, . this makes

hence we have

Momentum in the y- direction

in the y direction, . this makes

hence we have

The resultant of the two vectors can be found using Pythagoras' theorem

The direction of the resultant vector is found as

Hence the ball moves with a velocity of 1.96m/s in a North East direction