- #1
member 392791
I was curious, why is energy conserved in elastic collision but not in perfectly inelastic collision? It said this in my textbook without giving any reason why.
Energy conservation in collisions refers to the principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can only be transferred or transformed. In a collision, the total amount of energy before and after the collision remains constant.
Energy conservation is important in collisions because it helps us understand and predict the outcome of a collision. Without energy conservation, we would not be able to accurately determine the speed, direction, and other properties of objects involved in a collision.
All types of collisions, whether they are elastic or inelastic, conserve energy. In an elastic collision, the objects bounce off each other without any loss of energy, while in an inelastic collision, some of the energy is converted into other forms such as heat or sound. However, the total amount of energy before and after the collision remains the same.
In a collision, kinetic energy is conserved because the total amount of energy before and after the collision remains the same. This means that the sum of the kinetic energies of the objects involved in the collision is equal before and after the collision.
The main factor that can affect energy conservation in collisions is external forces, such as friction or air resistance. These forces can cause a loss of kinetic energy during a collision, making it not fully conserved. Other factors, such as the elasticity of the objects and the type of collision, can also play a role in the conservation of energy in collisions.