Collision of Light and Heavy Object#

A lead sphere (heavy) collides with an aluminum sphere (light).

Part 1#

As a result of the collision, which sphere’s change in momentum has the greater magnitude?

Answer Section#

  • lead sphere

  • aluminium sphere

  • both spheres experience the same magnitude of change in momentum

  • it depends on if the collision was elastic or inelastic

  • it depends on whether the collision was a direct hit or a glancing blow

Part 2#

As a result of the collision, which sphere undergoes an acceleration of greater magnitude?

Answer Section#

  • lead sphere

  • aluminium sphere

  • both spheres experience the same magnitude of acceleration

  • it depends on if the collision was elastic or inelastic

  • it depends on whether the collision was a direct hit or a glancing blow

Attribution#

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The Creative Commons 4.0 license requiring attribution-BY, non-commercial-NC, and share-alike-SA license.