Meriam, Kraige & Bolton — Kinetics of Systems of Particles: Problem 4_18

4/18 The three freight cars are rolling along the horizontal track with the velocities shown. After the impacts occur, the three cars become coupled together and move with a common velocity $v$. The weights of the loaded cars $A, B$, and $C$ are $130,000, 100,000$, and $150,000$ lb, respectively. Determine $v$ and calculate the percentage loss $n$ of energy of the system due to coupling.