Question

A body moving towards a finite body at rest collides with it. It is possible that.
A) both the bodies come to rest.
B) both the bodies move after the collision.
C) the moving body comes to rest and the stationary body starts moving.
D) the stationary body remains stationary and the moving body changes its direction.

Answer 1

There are different types of collisions like perfectly elastic collision, inelastic collision, and perfectly inelastic collision. The collision velocity depends upon the mass of the bodies that collide. The coefficient of restitution is the ratio of the difference of separation velocity to the approach velocity.

Complete step by step answer:
As it is given that a finite body moving towards a finite body at rest collides with it and we need to find all the possibilities. The collision depends upon the mass of the bodies and the type of collision i.e. if the collision is elastic or inelastic the possibilities change accordingly.
As the bodies which are colliding are of finite mass and the linear momentum of a closed system is always conserved.
When the body hits another finite body and hits it then the collision will change the velocities of the bodies according to the masses of the bodies. If they are of the same mass the velocities of the two bodies just interchange. The velocities of the masses will be inversely proportional to their masses. So one of the masses is moving and therefore after the collision both of the bodies are not going to rest. Now for the stationary body to remain stationary the mass of the stationary body has been very much more than the mass of the moving body.

Therefore, the correct option are option B and option C.

Note:
The linear moment of a closed system is always conserved. In a perfectly elastic collision, the energy is also conserved. In a perfectly inelastic collision, the two bodies collide and stick to each other and move.