Explain the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions.

In all collisions, provided there are no external forces, momentum is conserved. This is the law of conservation of momentum. However, kinetic energy is not conserved in all collisions. An inelastic collision is one in which not all of the kinetic energy is conserved. An example could be a collision between two cars, whereby both had kinetic energy before colliding, and none afterwards as they came to rest. A perfectly elastic collision is one in which all kinetic energy is conserved. An example of this is interactions between molecules, or in a Newton's cradle.

EE
Answered by Ellie E. Physics tutor

6820 Views

See similar Physics Scottish Highers tutors

Related Physics Scottish Highers answers

All answers ▸

A tall 2 meter tall basketball player shoots for the net that stands 3 meters from the ground. If he throws he ball from head height at an angle of 60 degrees and the ball travels at 10 meters per second, how far away is the hoop?


An exoplanet of mass 1.36x10^26 kg is orbiting a star of mass 3.2x10^31 kg at a distance of 1 AU. What is the magnitude of the gravitational force between the two?


A 25 micro farad is charged until the potential difference across it is 500V. Calculate the charge stored at this moment.


If a footballer kicks a ball straight down the pitch at 6 ms-1 at an angle θ of 30° above the horizontal, what is the maximum height reached by the ball?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning