Angle of Deflection in Elastic Collision

[StarWarsNerd]

This is the problem I am looking to solve: given two objects of different mass, find the angle of deflection after an elastic collision for each object.

For both objects we know:

• m : Mass in Kilograms
• θ_i : Initial Angle in Degrees
  
• s_i : Initial Speed in Units per Second
• s_f : Final Speed in Units per Second

Looking For:

• θ_f : Final Angle in Degrees

I have asked some of my colleagues at work how to do this without assuming one of the objects is stationary, and no one knew how, so I am curious if there is a formula or a way to derive the angle from this information.

SOLVED: I guess it is as simple as getting the slope from the position of the two objects then taking the arctan of that.

 

[Ishaan S]

Conservation of momentum with the 2 objects applies since there is no net force in this system of 2 objects. Can you go from there?