Billiard Ball Collision Analysis

What happens when two billiard balls collide?

How can we analyze the collision between two billiard balls?

Answer:

In a collision between two billiard balls, the laws of conservation of momentum can be used to analyze the situation. By applying these laws, we can find the velocity of the system after the collision.

Explanation:

The question you have asked is about a collision between two billiard balls. In this collision, one ball of mass m = 0.237 kg, initially moving right at 1.496 m/s, collides with another identical billiard ball which is stationary. After the collision, the first ball creeps forward at 0.01496 m/s.

By applying the laws of conservation of momentum, we can analyze this collision. The total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision. In this case, the total momentum before the collision is the momentum of the moving ball, which is the product of its mass and velocity, and the total momentum after the collision is the momentum of the combined balls after they stick together. In this case,

(0.237 kg)(1.496 m/s) = (0.237 kg + 0.237 kg)(0.01496 m/s)

By solving this equation, we can find the velocity of the system after the collision.