Two balls collide inelastically. After the collision, the momentum of the system is 18 kg x m/s.
Before the collision, 1 ball had mass 3 kg and speed 1 m/s. What was the momentum of the second ball before the collision?
Let's denote the momentum of the first ball as p1 and the momentum of the second ball as p2.
Before the collision, the momentum of the first ball is given by p1 = m1 * v1, where m1 is the mass of the first ball (3 kg) and v1 is its speed (1 m/s). Therefore, p1 = 3 kg * 1 m/s = 3 kg*m/s.
After the inelastic collision, the momentum of the system is given by p_sys = p1 + p2 = 18 kg*m/s.
We need to find the momentum of the second ball before the collision, which is p2.
Rearranging the equation p_sys = p1 + p2, we have p2 = p_sys - p1.
Substituting the values we know, we have p2 = 18 kg*m/s - 3 kg*m/s = 15 kg*m/s.
Therefore, the momentum of the second ball before the collision is 15 kg*m/s.