Which Marble Bounces Higher, Steel on Steel or Steel on Glass?

[buffgilville]

1) If you dropped a steel marble onto a steel plate and then dropped a steel marble onto a glass plate, which would you expect to bounce higher? Why?

2) Suppose that a projectile marble and target marble do not collide with their centers of mass equidistant from the floor. What problems in analyzing this experiment are caused by this non-ideal collision?

 

[rcgldr]

1) If you dropped a steel marble onto a steel plate and then dropped a steel marble onto a glass plate, which would you expect to bounce higher?

The steel on steel case.

Why?

Because the marble just went right through the glass instead of bouncing.

The reality is that it depends on how elastic the collision is. Energy losses occur if there is permanent deformation, if the deformation is converted into heat, or if there's is some residual deformation that recovers after the collision.

Suprisingly to most people, a pool ball bounces really well off a hard surface.