Question

Let two particles of equal mass mcollide. Particle 1 has initial velocity v, directed to the right,and particle 2 is initially stationary.
If the collision is elastic, what are the final velocities v1 andv2 of particles 1 and 2?Now suppose that the collision is perfectlyinelastic. What are the velocities v1 and v2 of the two particlesafter the collision?

Answer 1

ThanksDo you know how to doNow assume that the mass of particle 1 is 2m,while the mass of particle 2 remains m. If the collision iselastic, what are the final velocities v1and v2 of particles 1 and2?Let the mass of particle 1 be m and the massof particle 2 be 3m. If the collision is perfectly inelastic, whatare the velocities of the twoparticles after the collision?

Answer 2

The velocity of the particles after collision is
v1 = (2m2u2)/(m1+m2) +(m1-m2)u1/(m1+ m2)

here m1=m2 =m
u1=v
u2 =0

So v1 = 0

and
v2 = (2m1u1)/(m1+m2) +(m2-m1)u2/(m1+m2)
= v

In inelastic collision
Thevelocity of the particles after collision is
v1=v2 =v = (m1u1+m2u2)/(m1+m2)
=mv/(2m)
=v/2