Solve Elastic Collision: Find Velocity & Direction

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on solving elastic collisions involving two balls of equal mass, where one ball's pre-collision velocity and direction are unknown. Participants emphasize the conservation of momentum and energy principles, stating that the missing velocity can be calculated by summing the known velocities before and after the collision. Additionally, they highlight the importance of using vector diagrams to determine the direction of the unknown velocity, considering the conservation of momentum in all three dimensions (x, y, and z).

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of elastic collision principles
  • Familiarity with momentum conservation laws
  • Basic knowledge of vector diagrams
  • Concept of energy conservation in physics
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the mathematical formulation of elastic collisions in 2D and 3D
  • Learn how to construct and interpret vector diagrams for collision analysis
  • Explore advanced momentum conservation problems in multi-body collisions
  • Review case studies involving real-world applications of elastic collisions
USEFUL FOR

Physics students, educators, and anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of elastic collisions and momentum conservation in multi-dimensional spaces.

thereddevils
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Given two balls of the same mass of known velocities and known direction (before and after collision) , only one of the ball is not given its velocity and direction before collision and i am supposed to find them .

As for the velocity , just take the sum be4 and after collision and evaluate the missing one .

How about the direction ? Do i draw a vector diagram ?
 
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To find the velocity remember Momentum and Energy are conserved.

Hard to understand from your question, but it sounds like they are both traveling different 2D or 3D directions before collision, thus when they collide you can remember that Momentum is conserved in the x, y, and z direction. so:
[tex]\Sigma[/tex]px=[tex]\Sigma[/tex]p'x
[tex]\Sigma[/tex]py=[tex]\Sigma[/tex]p'y
[tex]\Sigma[/tex]pz=[tex]\Sigma[/tex]p'z
 
Last edited:

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