Types of Collisions
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Types of Collisions
There are 3 types of collision that you need to know about at A-level...
(A special case)
- All momentum is conserved (not surprisingly - it always is!)
- Kinetic energy is conserved (that's what makes this special).
- Relative speed of approach = relative speed of separation.
(So if one is catching the other at 10m/s before the collision, it will be moving apart from it at 10m/s after the collision).
Perfectly Elastic collisions are surprisingly common. All collisions between atoms are Perfectly Elastic according to the Kinetic Theory of Gases.
(Another special one)
- All momentum is conserved (as always).
- Kinetic energy is not conserved.
- The relative speed of separation is zero.
(The usual old case)
- All momentum is conserved (again).
- Kinetic energy is not conserved (again).
- You can't say anything about the speed at which they leave each other without doing a calculation.
