Question #f4b5a
1 Answer
If you run and leap into a small wagon, you and the wagon will continue moving in your original direction, but at reduced speed.
Explanation:
The reason the speed of you and the wagon is less than your original speed is that the amount of moving mass has increased.
Another example: You and a friend are on a frozen lake on ice skates. You give your friend a push. He goes in the direction you pushed him and you go in the opposite direction. That will sound like an example of Newton's 3rd Law, but it is also conservation of momentum.
A 3rd example: Rail cars are sent down tracks one at a time so they coast after having been given a push. They pass under a device that drops coal into them from above. The rail cars slow down because of conservation of momentum. Since the mass increased and the total mass*velocity must be constant, velocity must decrease to keep the momentum the same.
I hope this helps,
Steve
