Physics

To solve this, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. Since the two balls collide inelastically and stick together, the total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision.

Given:

The masses of the two balls are identical, so .

The initial velocity of the first ball, to the right (positive direction).

The initial velocity of the second ball, to the left (negative direction).

We can use the conservation of momentum formula:

Since , the formula simplifies to: