I understand this is a homework problem. I don't expect anyone to do my homework for me, but help me understand what I am doing wrong.
The problem goes: Two shuffleboard disks of equal mass, one orange and the other green, are involved in a perfectly elastic glancing collision. The green disk is initially at rest and is struck by the orange disk moving initially to the right at oi = 5.30 m/s as in Figure (a) shown below. After the collision, the orange disk moves in a direction that makes an angle of θ = 35.0° with the horizontal axis while the green disk makes an angle of = 55.0° with this axis as in figure (b). Determine the speed of green disk if the final velocity of the orange disk is 4.34m/s
First I draw the collision out. with the angles and everything. This helps me with visualizing what is happening.
Now i separate the Elastic Collision into x & ycomponents:
since the masses are all the same does that mean in the elastic collision equation the masses cancel out?
if so this is the equations
My x equation
5.30m/s + 0 = 4.34m/s*cos(35) + Vgf
Vgf(x) = -1.3513 m/s
y equation
0 + 0 = 5.30*sin(35)+Vgf
Vgf(y) = 2.6412
Then I do sqrt( (Vgf(x))^2 + (Vgf(y))^2) = 2.64 m/s (which is the incorrect velocity of the green disk.)
Though this is incorrect.
My only idea to why this is incorrect is probably because of the mass part of the Elastic Collision equation. I don't know how to use the collision equations without the masses given. What do I do?