Collision of Bodies in Physics
A collision is over too quickly to watch, but momentum is handed over during it without any outside interference, so the before and after states must agree. That one fact settles every collision problem, and it is why the blocks are organised by what survives rather than by what happens. In a perfectly inelastic collision the bodies leave together and the most kinetic energy is destroyed. In an elastic one the relative speed of approach is returned in full, so nothing is lost. Between those two extremes sits a single number, the coefficient of restitution, that measures how much bounce the collision kept.
Perfectly inelastic collision, common final velocity
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
Kinetic energy lost in a perfectly inelastic collision
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
Elastic collision in one dimension, first body after the collision
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
Elastic collision in one dimension, second body after the collision
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
Elastic collision between equal masses
Given
- (m/s)
Elastic collision with a stationary target
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
Elastic collision of a light body with a very heavy stationary one
Given
- (m/s)
Elastic collision of a heavy body with a very light stationary one
Given
- (m/s)
Relative velocity in a perfectly elastic collision
Given
- (m/s)
- (m/s)
Coefficient of restitution
Given
- (m/s)
- (m/s)
Momentum conservation in two dimensions
Given
- (kg)
- (m/s)
- (m/s)
- (m/s)
Elastic collision of equal masses in two dimensions, one of them at rest
Given
- (rad)