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PROBLEM 13.145

A 25-ton railroad car moving at 2.5 mi/h is

to be coupled to a 50 ton car which is at
rest with locked wheels ( k = 0.30).
Determine (a) the velocity of both cars
after the coupling is completed, (b) the
time it takes for both cars to come to rest.

SOLUTION
Weight and mass: (Label cars A and B.)

Car A : WA = 50 tons = 100, 000 lb, mA = 3106 lb s 2 /ft

Car B: WB = 25 tons = 50,000 lb, mB = 1553 lb s 2 /ft

Initital velocities: vA = 0

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vB = 2.5 mi/h = 3.6667 ft/s v B = 3.6667 ft/s
(a) The momentum of the system consisting of the two cars is conserved immediately before and after
coupling.

Let v be the common velocity of that cars immediately after coupling. Apply conservation of
momentum.
: mB vB = m A v + mB v
mB vB (3106)(3.6667)
v = = = 2.444 ft/s v = 1.667 mi/h
mA + mB 4569
(b) After coupling: The friction force acts only on car A.
+ F = 0 A : N A W A = 0 N A = WA
FA = k N A = kWA (sliding)
FB = 0 (Car B is rolling.)
Apply impuslse-momentum to the coupled cars.

PROPRIETARY MATERIAL. 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this Manual may be displayed,
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or used beyond the limited
distribution to teachers and educators permitted by McGraw-Hill for their individual course preparation. If you are a student using this Manual,
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PROBLEM 13.145 (Continued)

: (m A + mB )v + FAt = 0

(m A + mB )v11 mB vB
t= =
FA k W A
(1553)(3.6667)
t= = 0.1898
(0.30)(100, 000)
t = 0.190 s

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PROPRIETARY MATERIAL. 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this Manual may be displayed,
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or used beyond the limited
distribution to teachers and educators permitted by McGraw-Hill for their individual course preparation. If you are a student using this Manual,
you are using it without permission.

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PROBLEM 13.146

At an intersection car B was traveling south and car A was

traveling 30 north of east when they slammed into each other.
Upon investigation it was found that after the crash the two cars
got stuck and skidded off at an angle of 10 north of east. Each
driver claimed that he was going at the speed limit of 50 km/h and
that he tried to slow down but couldnt avoid the crash because the
other driver was going a lot faster. Knowing that the masses of
cars A and B were 1500 kg and 1200 kg, respectively, determine
(a) which car was going faster, (b) the speed of the faster of the
two cars if the slower car was traveling at the speed limit.

SOLUTION
(a) Total momentum of the two cars is conserved.

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mv, x : m A v A cos 30 = (m A + mB )v cos 10 (1)

mv, y : m A v A sin 30 mB vB = (mA + mB )v sin 10 (2)

Dividing (1) into (2),
sin 30 mB vB sin 10
=
cos 30 m Av A cos 30 cos 10
vB (tan 30 tan 10)( mA cos 30)
=
vA mB
vB (1500)
= (0.4010) cos 30
vA (1200)
vB
= 0.434 v A = 2.30 vB
vA

Thus, A was going faster.

(b) Since vB was the slower car.

vB = 50 km/h

v A = (2.30)(50) v A = 115.2 km/h

PROPRIETARY MATERIAL. 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this Manual may be displayed,
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or used beyond the limited
distribution to teachers and educators permitted by McGraw-Hill for their individual course preparation. If you are a student using this Manual,
you are using it without permission.

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