Homework Help: Is velocity conserved in elastic and inelastic collisions?

1. Nov 2, 2012

seallen

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data

Determine whether velocity is conserved in elastic and inelastic collisions? Use your experimental data to support your results.

2. Relevant equations

I have my data charts which show that velocity is not conserved in inelastic collisions, but in elastic collisions some parts of my data showed velocity was conserved and other parts showed that it was not.

3. The attempt at a solution
My thoughts are that velocity is not conserved in inelastic collisions due to some velocity being lost in the kinetic energy. However, I am thinking that in elastic collisions velocity is conserved due to the fact that both momentum and kinetic energy are also conserved. Would this be correct?

2. Nov 2, 2012

Simon Bridge

You seem to have answered this questions already:
That conclusion would not be consistent with your data. What does your data tell you?

What is different about the situations that could lead to the differing results?