Module 3

Elastic and inelastic Collision

A collision is an isolated event in which two or more bodies (the colliding bodies) exert relatively strong forces
on each other for a relatively short period

of time.

In other words, a brief event in which two or more bodies come together; "the
collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of
direction". Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision"
refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the
word "collision" implies nothing about the magnitude of the forces.
Some examples of physical interactions that scientists would consider
collisions:

An insect touches its antenna to the leaf of a plant. The antenna is said to collide with leaf.

A cat walks delicately through the grass. Each contact that its paws
make with the ground is a collision. Each brush of its fur against a
blade of grass is a collision.

When two ships collide each other called two body collision.

In all collisions, momentum is conserved. Energy, as the sum of all its forms, is
also conserved every time. These two principlesconservation of momentum
and conservation of energyhold true at all levels: at the grand scale of stars
and galaxies, in everyday situations such as collisions between balls on a
billiard table, through to the atomic interactions between the particles that make up matter. Collisions are

Figure 2: Examples of
collisions

usually classified according to whether or not kinetic energy is conserved in a collision. There are two types of
collision depending upon conservation of kinetic energy.
i. Elastic collision
ii. Inelastic collision

Elastic Collision
An elastic collision is one in which both the kinetic energy and momentum of the system are conserved.

Energy changes during collisions:

In an elastic collision, the total kinetic energy of the system before the collision is equal to the total kinetic
energy of the system after the collision. However, the kinetic energy of the system is not necessarily constant at
all times throughout the collision. Consider an almost elastic collision between swing balls [Figure 3]. A popular
demonstration of conservation of momentum and conservation of energy features several polished steel balls
hung in a straight line in contact with each other. If one is pulled back and allowed to strike the line, one ball
flies out the other end. If two balls are sent in, two come out, and so forth. So we can conclude that kinetic
energy and momentum are conserved before and after collision in both cases.

Figure 3: Examples of elastic collision with swing balls

Example: In billiards, collisions play an important role. Because the collisions between billiard balls are almost
perfectly elastic, and the balls roll on a low-friction surface, their predictable behavior is often used to illustrate
Newton's laws of motion. Almost elastic collisions include those where little friction acts, such as collisions
between billiard balls or between air track gliders with repelling magnets
Perfectly elastic collisions occur only in interactions between atoms or subatomic particles; they do not exist
in everyday situations, such as ball games or a mash pit. Figure 4 shows that when two electrons collide, the
force of repulsion caused by their like charge prevents them from coming into contact. Kinetic energy is
conserved in this collision; that is, the collision is perfectly elastic.

Figure

Energy changes during elastic collisions are shown graphically in

Figure 4. In an elastic collision, the total mechanical energy (i.e.
kinetic and potential energy) remains constant at all times. During
the contact between the bodies, some energy is stored as potential
energy and the total kinetic energy of the bodies is reduced.
However, this potential energy is all returned as kinetic energy. The
total kinetic energy before the collision is equal to the total kinetic
energy after the collision

Figure 4: Graphical
representation of Elastic collision

Inelastic Collision
When there is a collision between multiple objects and the final kinetic energy is different from the initial kinetic
it is said to be a inelastic collision. In these situations, the original kinetic energy is sometimes lost in
Figureenergy,
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the form of heat or sound, both of which are the results of the vibration of atoms at the point of collision.
Though kinetic energy is not conserved in these collisions, momentum is still conserved and therefore the
equations for momentum can be used to determine the motion of the various components of the collision.
Inelastic collisions range from almost elastic to perfectly inelastic.
Examples : One example of an inelastic collision is when two vehicles
crash into each other [Figure 6]. The movement of the vehicles after the
collision is less than the movement in the moments leading up to the
collision. This means energy is lost during the collision due to the
deformation of the vehicles themselves as well as the sound produced
by the collision.
Figure 6: Example of inelastic
collision
Perfectly Inelastic Collision
While an inelastic collision occurs anytime that
kinetic energy is lost during the collision, there is a
maximum amount of kinetic energy that can be lost.
This sort of collision, called a perfectly inelastic
collision, the colliding objects actually end up "stuck"
together[ Figure 7]. In this case, momentum is still
used to figure out what has happened, but there are
fewer objects after the collision than there were
before the collision ... because multiple objects are
now stuck together.

Figure 7
In an inelastic collision, not all of the kinetic energy that is
transformed into elastic potential energy during the contact is
returned to the system as kinetic energy. The missing energy is
transformed mainly into heat and sound, so the total kinetic energy
of the system after contact is less than it was before. The graphical
interpretation is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8
Elastic Collisions in one dimension
1. Stationary Target
Consider a simple head-on collision of two bodies of masses m 1 and m2 as shown in Fig. 9. For convenience,
we take one of the bodies to be stationary, with velocity v 2i = 0 before the collision. That body will be the target,
and the other body will be the projectile, with velocity v 1i before the collision. We assume that this two-body
system is closed (no mass enters or leaves it) and isolated (no net external force acts on it). Let us also make
another special another assumption: the kinetic energy of the system is the same before and after the collision.
The collision is then said to be of a special type called elastic collisions.

Figure 9 : Two bodies undergo an elastic collision. One of them is initially at

rest before the collision.

The conservations of linear momentum and of kinetic energy for the collision of Fig.2. gives us

m1v 1i m 1v 1f m 2 v 2f

(linear momentum) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (1)

and
1
1
1
m 1v 12i m1v 12f m 2 v 22f
2
2
2

(kinetic energy)

--------------

(2)

In each of these equations, the subscript i identifies the initial velocities and the subscript f the final velocities of
the body. If we know the masses of the bodies and if we also know v 1i, the initial velocity of body 1, the only
unknown quantities are v1f and v2f, the final velocities of the two bodies.
Equation (1) can be rewrite

m 1 (v 1i v 1f ) m 2v 2f

- - - - - - - - - - - (3)

And Eq. (2) can be rewrite

m1 (v 12i v 12f ) m 2 v 22f

m1 (v 1i v 1f )(v 1i v 1f ) m 2 v 22f
After dividing Eq.(4) by Eq. (3)

m 1 (v 1i v 1f )(v 1i v 1f )
m 1 (v 1i v 1f )

m 2 v 22f
m 2 v 2f

(v 1i v 1f ) v 2f (5)
Putting the value of v2f in Eq. (3) we get

m 1 (v 1i v 1f ) m 2 (v 1i v 1f )
v 1i (m 1 m 2 ) v 1f (m 1 m 2 )
v 1f

(m 1 m 2 )
v 1i (6)
(m 1 m 2 )

And putting the value of v1f in Eq. (5) we get

v 1i

(m 1 m 2 )
v 1i v 2f
(m 1 m 2 )

- - - - - - - - - - - (4)

(m 1 m 2 m 1 m 2 )
v 1i v 2f
(m 1 m 2 )
v 2f

2m 1
v 1i (7)
(m 1 m 2 )

That is v2f is always positive, that is the target body with mass m 2 always moves forward. From Eq. (6) we see
that v1f may be of either sign that is the projectile body with mass m 1 moves forward if m1 > m2 but rebounds if
m1 < m2.
Some special situation
(a) Equal masses:
If m1 = m2, then Eq. (6) and (7) becomes,
v1f = 0

and

v2f = v1i

That is after a head-on collision of bodies with equal masses, body 1 (projectile) stops and body 2 (target)
takes off with the initial speed of body 1. In head-on collisions, bodies of equal masses simply exchange
velocities. This is true even if the target particle is not initially at rest.
(b) A massive target
A massive target means, m2 >> m1, Then Eq. (6) and (7) becomes
v1f = -v1i (neglecting m1)

2m

1
v 1i (8)
and v 2f
m
2

That is body 1 simply bounces back in the same direction from which it came, its speed essentially
unchanged. Body 2 moves forward with a low speed, because the quantity in parentheses in Eq. (8) is
much less than unity.

(c) A massive projectile

That is m1 >> m2. The n the Eq. (6) and (7) becomes
v1f v1i

and

v2f 2v1i (neglecting m2) ----------------------------------------- (9)

Equation (9) tells us that body 1 simply keeps on going, scarcely slowed by the collision. Body 2 charges
ahead at twice the speed of the body 1.
2. Moving Target

Let us consider the elastic collision in which both bodies are moving before they undergo an elastic collision.
For the situation of figure 10,
linear momentum is written as

the conservation of

m1v1i m 2 v 2i m1v1f m 2 v 2f (10)

Figure 10. Two bodies headed for an elastic collision.

And the conservation of kinetic energy is written as

1
1
1
1
m1v 12i m 2 v 22i m1v 12f m 2 v 22f (11)
2
2
2
2
Equation (10) and (11) can be written as

m 1 (v 1i v 1f ) m 2 (v 2 i v 2f ) (12)
and
m 1 (v 1i v 1f )(v 1i v 1f ) m 2 (v 2 i v 2f )(v 2 i v 2f ) (13)
After dividing Eq. (!3) by Eq.(12) we get,

m 1 (v 1i v 1f )(v 1i v 1f ) m 2 (v 2 i v 2f )(v 2 i v 2f )

m 1 (v 1i v 1f )
m 2 (v 2 i v 2f )
(v 1i v 1f ) (v 2 i v 2f )
v 2f v 1i v 1f v 2 i (14)
Putting the value of v2f in Eq. (12) we get

m1v 1i m 1v 1f m 2 v 2 i m 2v 1i m 2 v 1f m 2v 2 i

v 1i m1 m 2 v 1f m1 m 2 2m 2 v 2i
then,
v 1f

m1 m 2
2m 2
v 1i
v (15 )
m1 m2
m1 m 2 2i

Putting the value of v1f in Eq. (14) we get

m1 m 2
2m 2
v 1i
v v
m1 m 2
m1 m 2 2i 2i
m m 2 m1 m 2
2m 2 m 1 m 2
1
v 1i
v
m1 m 2
m1 m 2 2i

v 2f v 1i

v 2f

2m 1
m m1
v 1i 2
v (16)
m1 m2
m1 m 2 2i
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Inelastic Collisions in one dimension

Figure 11 shows a one dimensional inelastic collision in which one body is initially stationary. The law of
conservation of linear momentum holds, so

m1v (m1 m 2 )V (17)

or
V

m1
v (18)
(m 1 m 2 )
Figure 11 A complete inelastic collision between two bodies.

Where V represents the final velocity of the stuck-together bodies. Equation (18) tells us that the final speed is
always less than that of the incoming body.
If both bodies (projectile and target) are moving prior to a completely inelastic collision, we replace Eq. (17) with

m 1v 1 m 2v 2 (m 1 m 2 )V (19)
or
V

m1
m2
v1
v 2 (20)
(m 1 m 2 )
(m 1 m 2 )

In Eq. (19) m1v1 is the initial linear momentum of one body, and m2v2 is that of the other body.
Since the theory behind solving two dimensional collisions
problems is the same as the one dimensional case, we will
simply take a general example of a two dimensional collision,
and show how to solve it. Consider two particles, m 1 and m 2 ,
moving toward each other with velocity v 1oand v 2o ,
respectively. They hit in an elastic collision at an angle, and
both particles travel off at an angle to their original
displacement, as shown below:
To solve this problem we again use our conservation laws to
come up with equations that we hope to be able to solve. In
terms of kinetic energy, since energy is a scalar quantity, we
need not take direction into account, and may simply state:

1/2 v 1o 2 + 1/2 v 2o 2 = 1/2 v 1f 2 + 1/2 v 2f 2

Figure 12: Two particles collide at

point A, then move of at angles to
their original motion

Whereas in the one dimensional problem we could only generate one equation for the conservation of linear
momentum, in two dimensional problems we can generate two equations: one for the x-component and one for
the y-component.
Let's start with the x-component. Our initial momentum in the x direction is given by: m 1 v 1o - m 2 v 2o . Note
the minus sign, as the two particles are moving in opposite directions. After the collision, each particle
maintains a component of their velocity in the x direction, which can be calculated using trigonometry. Thus our
equation for the conservation of linear momentum in the x-direction is:
p ox = p fx
m 1 v 1o - m 2 v 2o = m 1 v 1fcos 1 + m 2 v 2fcos 2
Regarding the y-component, since both particles move initially in the x direction, there is no initial linear
momentum in the y direction. The final linear momentum again can be found through trigonometry, and used to
form another equation:
p oy = p fy
0 = m 1 v 1f sin 1 + m 2 v 2f sin 2
We now have three equations: conservation of kinetic energy, and conservation of momentum in both the x and
y directions. With this information, is this problem solvable? Recall that if we are given only the initial masses
and velocities we are working with four unknowns: v 1f , v 2f , 1 and 2 . We cannot solve for four unknowns
with three equations, and must specify an additional variable. Perhaps we are trying to make a pool shot, and
can tell the angle of the ball being hit by where the hole is, but would like to know where the cue ball will end
up. This equation would be solvable, since with the angle the ball will take to hit the pocket we have specified
another variable.

Completely Inelastic Collisions

Surprisingly enough, the completely inelastic case is easier to
solve in two dimensions than the completely elastic one. To
see why, we shall examine a general example of a completely
inelastic collision. As we've done previously, we will count
equations and variables and show that it is solvable.
The most general case of a completely inelastic collision is two
particles m 1 and m 2 moving at an angle of 1 to each other
with velocities v 1 and v 2 , respectively. They undergo a
completely inelastic collision, and form a single mass M with
velocity v f , as shown below.
What equations can we come up with to solve this type of
problem? Clearly because the collision is inelastic we cannot
invoke the conservation of energy. Instead we are limited to
our two equations for conservation of linear momentum. Observe that we have conveniently oriented our axes
in the figure above such that the path of m 1 is entirely in the x
Figure 13: Two particles collide at
direction. With this in mind, we can generate our equations for the
point A, Forming a single particle
conservation of momentum in both the x and y directions:
x component: m 1 v 1 + m 2 v 2cos 1 = Mvf cos 2
y component:
m 2 v 2sin 1 =
Mv fsin 2

Though we only have two equations, we also only have two unknowns, v f and 2 . Thus we can solve for any
completely inelastic collision in two dimensions.

Conclusion
Our entire study of collision can be seen as simply an application of the conservation of linear momentum. So
much time is spent on this topic, however, because it is such a common one, both in physics and in practical
life. Collisions occur in particle physics, pool halls, car accidents, sports, and just about anything else you can
think of. A thorough study of the topic will be well rewarded in practical use.

Reference
1.Physics [Part I]
Robert Resnick & David Halliday
2. Internet resources

Prepared By
Nusrat Jahan
Physics Department

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PROBLEM SHEET
1.

A 0.060 kg tennis ball, moving with a speed of 2.50m/s , has a collision with a 0.090 ball initially
is at rest. Assuming a perfectly elastic collision, what is the speed of each ball after collision?

2.

A body of 2.0 kg mass makes an elastic collision with another body at rest and afterwards
continues to move in the original direction but with one-fourth of its original speed. What is the
mass of the struck body?

v 2i

3.

A block of mass m1 = 100kg is at rest on a

very long frictionless table, one end of which
is terminated in a wall. Another block of mass
m2 is placed between the first block and the
m1
wall set in motion to the left with constant
m2
speed v2 [Figure]. Assuming that all collisions
2m
are completely elastic, find the value of m2 for which both blocks move with the same velocity
after m2 has collide once with m1 and once with the wall. The wall has infinite mass effectively.

4.

A steel ball weighting 1.0 Ib is fastened to a cord 27 in. long

and is released when the cord is horizontal. At the bottom its path the ball strikes a
5.0 Ib steel block initially at rest on a frictionless surface .The collision is elastic.
Find the speed of the ball and the speed of the block just after the collision.

5.

An electron collides elastically with a hydrogen atom initially at rest. The initial and final motion
along the same straight line. What fraction of the electrons initial kinetic energy is transferred
to the hydrogen atom? The mass of the hydrogen atom is 1840 times the mass of electron.

6.

Two vehicles A and B are travelling west and south, respectively, toward the same intersection
where they collide and lock together. Before the collision A and B [total weight 1200Ib] has a
speed of 60 mph. find the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the [interlocked] vehicles
immediately after collision.

7.

In a feat of public marksmanship, you fire a bullet into a hanging target. The target, with bullet
embedded, swings upward. Noting the height reached at the top of the swing, you immediately
inform the crowd of the bullets speed. If the mass of the bullet is 12 g, the mass of the block on
the ballistic pendulum (hanging target) is 2kg, and the final height is 10.4 cm, what speed did
you announce to the crowd?

8.

Two skaters collide and embrace, in a completely inelastic

collision. That is, they stick together after impact suggested
in Fig, where the origin is placed at the point of collision.
Alfred, whose mass mA is 83 kg, is originally moving east
with speed vA = 6.2 km/h. Barbara, whose mass m B is 55 kg,
is originally moving north with speed vB = 7.8 km/h. (a) What
is the V of the couple after impact? (b) What is the fractional
change in the kinetic energy of the skaters because of the
collision?
A 2000 kg automobile going east on Chestnut Street at 60
mi/hr collides with a 4000 kg truck which is going north across
Chestnut Street at 20 mi/hr. If they become coupled on
collision, what is the magnitude and direction of their velocity immediately after colliding?

9.

10.

A billiard ball moving at a speed of 2.2 m/s strikes an identical stationary ball a glancing blow.
After the collision, one ball is found to be moving at a speed of 1.1 m/s in a direction making a

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60o angle with the original line of motion. (a) Find the velocity and angle of the other ball. (b)
Can the collision be inelastic, given these data?

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