Question

How do IK if an issue is an elastic collision or inelastic collision? How do I distinguish the difference between them once I am given an issue on the test?

Answer 1

Hint : A collision is an occasion where momentum or K.E. is transferred from one object to a different and therefore the meeting of particles or of bodies during which each exerts a force upon the opposite , causing the exchange of energy or momentum. There are two general sorts of collision.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Elastic collision
- No loss of K.E.
- Slight change in direction
Inelastic collision
- A loss of K.E.
- No change in direction because the particle is absorbed by the atom that it hits
An example of an experiment that wants to prove the discrete energy levels in Bohr's model is Franck Hertz's experiment using mercury vapor s in physics: elastic and inelastic.
Main characteristic which indicates whether elastic collision or inelastic collision is conservation of energy. Conservation of energy during a collision exists only in elastic collisions. So if you are ready to calculate the total K.E. before and after the collision, which will tell you.

Note :
Energy can shift from one body to a different in elastic collisions, but the entire before = total after. Another indication is that if the question indicates something that might indicate loss of energy. Cars banging together typically bend and smash car parts. Meaning work is completed which work subtracts from the entire energy.