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Two spherical asteroids have the same radius R. Asteroid 1
Chapter 13, Problem 40P(choose chapter or problem)
Problem 40P
Two spherical asteroids have the same radius R. Asteroid 1 has mass M and asteroid 2 has mass 2M. The two asteroids are released from rest with distance 10R ? between their centers. What is the speed of each asteroid just before they collide?
Hint: You will need to use two conservation laws.
Questions & Answers
QUESTION:
Problem 40P
Two spherical asteroids have the same radius R. Asteroid 1 has mass M and asteroid 2 has mass 2M. The two asteroids are released from rest with distance 10R ? between their centers. What is the speed of each asteroid just before they collide?
Hint: You will need to use two conservation laws.
ANSWER:
Step 1 of 5
Here we need to calculate the speed of individual asteroids just before the collision. Two spherical asteroids with mass \(M\) and \(2 M\) with radius \(R\) are initially released from rest with a distance \(10 R\) apart as shown below,
Since the asteroids are released from rest, both have the initial speed equal to zero.
That is,
\(v_{1 i}=v_{2 i}=0\)