Consider a collision where an object with a known mass and known speed collides with another object at rest. The objects are free to move in three dimensions.
-(b) If the collision is elastic, how many equations of constraint do we have on those quantities?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In an elastic collision, both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. Conservation of momentum provides three equations (one for each spatial dimension: x, y, and z), and conservation of kinetic energy provides one additional equation, totaling four equations of constraint.

Consider a Collision Where an Object with a Known Mass