16) Question 16 asks us to consider the Kinetic Energy of the system after the collision when assuming the collision is elastic. It is crucial to remember that during elastic collisions Kinetic Energy is conserved, but during inelastic collisions, Kinetic Energy is not conserved. Here is a diagram with the basics of the relationship between Kinetic Energy in collisions.
Since we are dealing with an elastic collision, the objects' Kinetic Energy will be conserved. This means that the total initial Kinetic Energy in the system will be the same as the total final Kinetic Energy.
Now, we can substitute the sum of the Kinetic Energy of individual objects.
Now, once we substitute all the given values, we can find our final answer.
Answer: D
Comments