What is an Inelastic Collision?
An inelastic collision is one in which kinetic energy is not conserved, although momentum is always conserved. Part of the kinetic energy is converted to other forms such as heat, sound, or deformation energy.
Calculate Parameters for Inelastic Collisions
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Calculate final velocity and energy loss in perfectly inelastic collisions
Calculate energy lost during an inelastic collision
Calculate the coefficient of restitution for partially inelastic collisions
An inelastic collision is one in which kinetic energy is not conserved, although momentum is always conserved. Part of the kinetic energy is converted to other forms such as heat, sound, or deformation energy.
In a perfectly inelastic collision:
Even in inelastic collisions, momentum is conserved:
m₁v₁ᵢ + m₂v₂ᵢ = (m₁ + m₂)vf
The energy lost in an inelastic collision is:
ΔE = ½m₁v₁ᵢ² + ½m₂v₂ᵢ² - ½(m₁ + m₂)vf²
The coefficient of restitution (e) measures how inelastic a collision is:
vf = (m₁v₁ᵢ + m₂v₂ᵢ)/(m₁ + m₂)
ΔE = KEᵢ - KEf
e = -(v₂f - v₁f)/(v₂ᵢ - v₁ᵢ)