Question

Two deer run toward each other. One deer has a mass of 20 kg and runs west with a speed of 5 m/s, while the other has a mass of 30 kg and runs east with a speed of 4 m/s. What is the total momentum of the system made up of the two deer?

Answer 1

Let the masses be \[m_{1}\] and\[m _{2}\]

Let the velocities be \[v _{1}\] and \[v _{2}\]

The total momentum is
\[p _{t}=p _{1}+p_{2}=m _{1}v _{1}+ m _{2}v _{2}\]

Take the direction towards the East to be positive