Is Elasticity Possible in Collisions at a Microscopic Level?

AI Thread Summary
Collisions of macroscopic objects cannot be perfectly elastic due to energy dissipation, which aligns with the second law of thermodynamics. Microscopic collisions, such as those between elementary particles, raise questions about the nature of contact and spatial occupation during interactions. The concept of annihilation between a positron and an electron illustrates that they must occupy the same point in space simultaneously for the collision to occur. The discussion also seeks insights on whether perfect elasticity can exist at the microscopic level. Overall, the complexities of collisions highlight fundamental principles in physics.
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About collisions of macroscopic objects:

- Can they be perfectly elastic in reality? If not is this a consequence of the 2nd thermodynamic law?

About microscopic collisions (between molecules, atoms or elementary particles)

- Can they be perfectly elastic? A collision between two elementary particles means that they really come in contact thus occuping the same point of space at the same time? (e.g annihilation between a positron and an electron happens when both lying in the same point in the same time?)
 
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