Elastic and inelastic collision and their characteristics

ByManoj Jaiswar

Elastic collision : A collision in which both the momentum and kinetic energy of the body remains conserved. e.g. the collision between two metal balls.


The basic characteristics of an elastic collision are

♦️Momentum is conserved.
♦️Total energy is conserved.
♦️Kinetic energy is conserved.
♦️Forces involved in the interaction are of conservative nature.
♦️Mechanical energy is not transformed into any other form of energy.

Inelastic collision : A collision in which only the momentum of the system is conserved but kinetic energy is not conserved. Majority of the collisions in our day to day life are inelastic collisions.
e.g, mud thrown on the wall.


The basic characteristics of an inelastic collision are
♦️Momentum is conserved.
♦️Total energy is conserved.
♦️Kinetic energy is not conserved.
♦️Some or all of the forces involved are non-conservative in nature.
♦️A part or whole of the mechanical energy may be transformed into other forms of energy.

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