Halliday, Resnick & Walker — Center of Mass and Linear Momentum: Problem 53

53 In Anchorage, collisions of a vehicle with a moose are so common that they are referred to with the abbreviation MVC. Suppose a 1000 kg car slides into a stationary 500 kg moose on a very slippery road, with the moose being thrown through the windshield (a common MVC result). (a) What percentage of the original kinetic energy is lost in the collision to other forms of energy? A similar danger occurs in Saudi Arabia because of camel–vehicle collisions (CVC). (b) What percentage of the original kinetic energy is lost if the car hits a 300 kg camel? (c) Generally, does the percentage loss increase or decrease if the animal mass decreases?