Elastic vs Inelastic Collision: Mass & Kinetic Energy

[KurtWagner]

say I have two objects of the same mass. Is the collision always going to be elastic?
mv + mv = mv + mv

the masses cancel out and thus kinetic energy is conserved right?

does this mean that for two cars with exactly the same mass the collision is going to be elastic?

if so, would there be any damage to the cars? as the there is no change in kinetic energy then there is no energy to crumble the car body right?

 

[KurtWagner]

like for example when a moving car hits a resting car.

 

[billy_joule]

say I have two objects of the same mass. Is the collision always going to be elastic?

Whether a collision is elastic or not has nothing to do with the masses.

does this mean that for two cars with exactly the same mass the collision is going to be elastic?

if so, would there be any damage to the cars? as the there is no change in kinetic energy then there is no energy to crumble the car body right?

Imagine a head on collision at 100km/hr between:
A) two 1000kg vehicles
B) one 500kg and one 1500kg vehicle

Does it make any sense to think the cars in case A) will be undamaged and the cars in case B) will be damaged?

In the real world there are no perfectly elastic collisions. Some collisions can be closely approximated as elastic but a car crash is definitely not one of them.

 

[KurtWagner]

how about a rear ender between two cars of equal mass on ice.

first car is 10m/s second is at rest. after the collision the velocities are conserved right?

 

[billy_joule]

No, cars are specifically designed to be inelastic in collisions for safety reasons.

Collisions between Billiard balls are close to elastic.

 

[Orodruin]

No, same mass does not imply elastic collision. The collision between two cars is typically quite inelastic.

Edit: Maybe I should stop opening several tabs and answering when I get to them without checking if it was already answered ... :)

 

[KurtWagner]

so how do you use the conservation of momentum for two cars of equal masses where the collision is inelastic.

why does the differences in speeds not break the conservation of momentum

 

[Orodruin]

Conservation of momentum is one equation but you have two variables (the post-collision velocities of each car). As such, it does not uniquely determine the velocities and you need more input, such as the total kinetic energy being conserved (elastic) or the velocities being equal after collision (fully inelastic).

 

[KurtWagner]

am i right in assuming that most car collisions are completely inelastic?

 

[KurtWagner]

or should i say. most car collisions where the breaks are engaged in both cats

 

[KurtWagner]

*cars

 

[SteamKing]

"brakes", not "breaks".

 

[KurtWagner]

thanks for that :p

 

[haruspex]

am i right in assuming that most car collisions are completely inelastic?

Any car collision more than a nudge is mostly inelastic.

 

[billy_joule]

or should i say. most car collisions where the breaks are engaged in both cats

The brakes have nothing to do with it. Prior deceleration, like mass, has nothing to do with whether a collision is elastic or not.

 

[KurtWagner]

so this brings me back to my misunderstanding involving the conservation of momentum.

for example a moving car hitting a stationary one.

initial
car a: 1000kg 10m/s
car b: 1000kg 0m/s

final
car a: ?
car b: 5m/susing the conservation of momentum on this would leave car a going 5m/s right?

kinetic energy is conserved right?

what am I doing wrong?

 

[Nathanael]

initial
car a: 1000kg 10m/s
car b: 1000kg 0m/s

final
car a: ?
car b: 5m/susing the conservation of momentum on this would leave car a going 5m/s right?

kinetic energy is conserved right?

Kinetic energy is not conserved in this case.
The initial KE was \frac{1}{2}10^2M=50,000 Joules.
Whereas the final KE was \frac{1}{2}5^2M+\frac{1}{2}5^2M=25,000 Joules.

Kinetic Energy was lost (50% of it).

...

When two objects collide, there are infinite possible combinations of final velocities that will satisfy conservation of momentum.
Many of these possible solutions violate conservation of energy (because energy comes from nowhere)
Some of these possible solutions result in a decreased amount of kinetic energy (so-called "inelastic collions")

But there is only 1 solution of conservation of momentum which leaves the kinetic energy unchanged.
This sitatuion is referred to as an "elastic collision"

...

In your example, the "elastic solution" would be a_{final}=0 and b_{final}=10\frac{m}{s}

 

[KurtWagner]

HA!

Thank you. I did not realize. The square of the velocity!

That is exactly what I was missing.

5^2 plus 5^2 is not the same as 10^2. Lol