17) For this question, we are now given that the mass m is 12kg. The problem states that the blocks will stick together and move together. We are prompted to solve for the speed the blocks travel together at. In order to solve this problem, we can use the law of conservation of momentum.
There are two central ideas needed to solve this problem. First, we should know that momentum is equivalent to the product of an object's mass and velocity. And second, we must know that the total momentum of a system is the sum of the momentum of the individual objects. With this in mind, we can come up with an equation.
But wait! The problem states that after the collision, the blocks stick to each other and move together. If they are moving together, that must mean they have the same speed after the collision, so we can simplify this equation even further.
We finally have all the information and the correct relations we need to solve for the final speed. We can plug in our given values and solve for our unknown.
Answer: A
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