A racquetball is dropped from a height of one meter. It bounces off the floor and rises to a height of 0.8 m. The collision with the floor was
A) an elastic collision.
B) a partially inelastic collision.
C) a perfectly inelastic collision.
D) impossible to tell without knowing the mass of the ball.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A perfectly elastic collision would result in the ball returning to its original height, while a perfectly inelastic collision would result in the ball sticking to the floor. Since the ball bounces back up to a diminished height, it must have lost some kinetic energy during the collision, making it a partially inelastic collision. The mass of the ball is not necessary to determine the type of collision.

A Racquetball Is Dropped from a Height of One Meter