Kinetic Energy and Inelastic Collisions

The six situations below show mass (m) and velocity (v) information for two carts prior to a collision. Assume all collisions are Inelastic and any motion to the right is considered positive.

Rank from the greatest to the least on the basis of total kinetic energy prior to the collision.

Greatest 1____ 2_____ 3_____ 4_____ 5_____ 6______ 7_____ 8_____Least

Or, the total kinetic energies are the same in each situation. ________

Please carefully explain your reasoning.

How sure were you of your ranking? (circle one)

Basically Guessed

Sure

Very Sure

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