CAIE M1 2020 November — Question 4

Exam BoardCAIE
ModuleM1 (Mechanics 1)
Year2020
SessionNovember
TopicMomentum and Collisions

4 Two small smooth spheres \(A\) and \(B\), of equal radii and of masses 4 kg and \(m \mathrm {~kg}\) respectively, lie on a smooth horizontal plane. Initially, sphere \(B\) is at rest and \(A\) is moving towards \(B\) with speed \(6 \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 1 }\). After the collision \(A\) moves with speed \(1.5 \mathrm {~m} \mathrm {~s} ^ { - 1 }\) and \(B\) moves with speed \(3 \mathrm {~m} \mathrm {~s} ^ { - 1 }\). Find the two possible values of the loss of kinetic energy due to the collision.