A small car meshes with a large truck in a head-on collision. Which of the following statements concerning the momentum during the collision are correct? (There could be more than one correct
Choice.)
A) The momentum of the truck is conserved.
B) The momentum of the car and the momentum of the truck are each conserved.
C) The momentum of the car is conserved.
D) The car and the truck must undergo the same change in speed.
E) The momentum of the car-truck system is conserved, but the momentum of each one separately is not conserved.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In a collision, the law of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum of a system is conserved if no external forces act on it. While the momentum of individual objects (like the car and the truck in this scenario) may change, the overall momentum of the system (car-truck system) remains constant. Choices A, B, C, and D suggest conservation of momentum for individual objects or equal changes in speed, which are incorrect without considering the entire system or the differences in mass and velocity changes between the car and the truck.

A Small Car Meshes with a Large Truck in a Head-On