Colliding Balls

A ball of mass 162 \(g\) with initial velocity 5.39 \(\frac{m}{s}\hat{\imath}\) collides with a ball of mass 101 \(g\) with initial velocity -2.72 \(\frac{m}{s}\hat{\imath}\). The final velocity of the 162 \(g\) ball is -4.58 \(\frac{m}{s}\hat{\imath}\), while the final velocity of the 101 \(g\) ball is 3.41 \(\frac{m}{s}\hat{\imath}\).

Part 1

Choose the correct statement.

Note: When comparing total momenta and total energies, consider them equal if the final is within 2% (inclusive) of the initial.

Answer Section

• This is not possible as momentum is not conserved.

• This is an inelastic collision because only momentum is conserved.

• This is an inelastic collision because energy and momentum are conserved.

• This is not possible because kinetic energy is not conserved.

• This is an elastic collision, as both kinetic energy and momentum are conserved.

Attribution

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.