All Flashcards
What are the differences between elastic and inelastic collisions?
Elastic: Kinetic energy is conserved. | Inelastic: Kinetic energy is not conserved, transformed into other forms.
Compare energy transformation in elastic vs. inelastic collisions.
Elastic: No energy converted to other forms. Kinetic energy is conserved. | Inelastic: Kinetic energy is transformed into heat, sound, or potential energy.
Differentiate between total energy and kinetic energy conservation in collisions.
Total Energy: Always conserved in both elastic and inelastic collisions. | Kinetic Energy: Conserved only in elastic collisions, not in inelastic collisions.
Compare the final velocities of objects in elastic and perfectly inelastic collisions.
Elastic: Objects typically have different final velocities. | Perfectly Inelastic: Objects have the same final velocity, moving together as one unit.
What is the difference between inelastic collision and perfectly inelastic collision?
Inelastic collision: Objects may or may not stick together. KE is not conserved. | Perfectly Inelastic collision: Objects stick together. KE is not conserved.
What happens when kinetic energy is not conserved in a collision?
The collision is inelastic, and kinetic energy is transformed into other forms of energy like heat, sound, or deformation.
What is the effect of nonconservative forces like friction on a collision?
Kinetic energy is dissipated from the system, leading to an inelastic collision.
What happens when two objects stick together after a collision?
The collision is perfectly inelastic, and they move as one unit with the same final velocity.
What is the effect of increasing the masses of colliding objects on the final velocity in a perfectly inelastic collision?
For the same initial velocities, the final velocity of the combined mass will generally decrease, according to the conservation of momentum.
What happens when a collision occurs on a surface with friction?
The change in total kinetic energy of the system will be lower (more negative) due to the additional energy loss from friction.
Define elastic collision.
A collision where the total kinetic energy of the system is conserved.
Define inelastic collision.
A collision where the total kinetic energy of the system is not conserved; some kinetic energy is transformed into other forms of energy.
Define perfectly inelastic collision.
A collision where objects stick together after impact, resulting in maximum kinetic energy loss.
What does conservation of momentum mean?
In a closed system, the total momentum remains constant if no external forces act on the system.
Define kinetic energy.
Energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.