A piece of putty moving with 1 unit of momentum strikes and sticks to a heavy bowling ball that is initially at rest. Both move with a combined momentum of

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The total momentum of the system must be conserved, so the momentum of the putty before the collision must be equal to the momentum of the combined system after the collision. Since the putty has 1 unit of momentum before the collision, and the bowling ball is initially at rest, the total momentum of the system after the collision must also be 1 unit. Therefore, the combined momentum of the putty and the bowling ball after collision is 1 unit.

A Piece of Putty Moving with 1 Unit of Momentum