Two air track gliders are set up with bumper springs on both ends so that any collision with the end of the air track or with another glider will be almost perfectly elastic. The golden glider at the right in the photographs below has three times the mass of the red one at the left.
They are pushed from left to right along the track in a way that both have exactly the same speed and there is a very slight separation between them as they move along.
After the collision with the bumper at the right end of the air track, what will happen?
If your answer is (b), (c) or (d) you must determine the velocity of any moving glider(s) after the collision with the end of the track.
Click here for Answer #155 after September 15, 2003.
