Collision examples?

[jmart]

So I figured that could just memorize formulas but I want to fully grasp concepts.

I get that a completely inelastic collision is when the two things stick together like some one tackling another person. KE is not conserved but momentum is.

For elastic collisions both are conserved and my book uses the example of billards.

What kind of example can I think of for inelastic?

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[Rabolisk]

Anything that isn't elastic, but not completely inelastic. I know that's not an example, but really, almost every real collision is inelastic. Inelastic just means KE is not conserved, and that's all you have to know.

 

[jowen88]

So I figured that could just memorize formulas but I want to fully grasp concepts.

I get that a completely inelastic collision is when the two things stick together like some one tackling another person. KE is not conserved but momentum is.

For elastic collisions both are conserved and my book uses the example of billards.

What kind of example can I think of for inelastic?

Elastic=rubber ball bouncing off of brick
inelastic=clay ball sticking to brick
elastic=two fairly equal mass cars hitting and bouncing off eachother
inelastic=two cars straight crashing into eachother

 

[DougTPR]

Perfectly Elastic (elastic) = molecules in an ideal gas, billiard balls (an approximation)

Inelastic = molecules in a real gas, super balls, basket balls, silly putty

Perfectly Inelastic = any collision in which the objects fuse

In general there are no such things as perfectly elastic collisions except that we use idealized systems to approximate them. So ALL real collisions are inelastic with those that involve fusion of the objects are called perfectly inelastic.