Elastic Collision

Question

A 42.0 g marble moving at 2.20 m/s strikes a 22.0 g marble at rest. Note that the collision is elastic and that it is a "head-on" collision so all motion is along a line.

What is the speed of 42.0 g marble immediately after the collision?

AND

What is the speed of 22.0 g marble immediately after the collision?

Answer 1

Hi Alley,

For problems dealing with elastic collisions, there are two factors you need to consider, energy and momentum. The totals of both need to be conserved before and after the collision. Recall that momentum is mass times velocity and kinetic energy (there is no change in potential energy in this problem) is 1/2 mass times velocity squared. By requiring that both of these quantities are conserved, i.e. their totals are the same before and after, you can solve for the two velocities!

Please message me if you have any questions.

-Cole