Question

One 2.5 gram piece of mass moving at 100 meters per second (m/s) collides and sticks to another 2.5 gram mass at rest. The resulting 5 gram mass continues in the same direction with some speed. No external forces act on these masses, and during the collision no particles are absorbed, but 3 × 1025 photons are emitted due to the collision. These photons all have a wavelength of 1.0 μm, but their direction is split three ways. One third move in a direction opposite the 2.5 gram mass moving at 100 m/s. The remaining photons are emitted perpendicular to the direction of motion of the resulting mass.

Using momentum conservation, compute the speed of the resulting 5 gram mass.

Answer in meters per second, and to the nearest fourth decimal place.

Answer 1