Objects that collide and stick

When two objects lock together in a crash, the momentum from before is shared across their combined mass afterwards.

A worked example

A 900 kg car at 16 m/s hitting a stationary 600 kg car and locking on gives 14 400 = 1 500v, so v = 9.6 m/s.

The mistake people actually make

Add the two masses before dividing; using only the moving car's mass gives back its original speed. Momentum is conserved here even though kinetic energy is not.

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