Elastic and inelastic collisions
Grade 11 Science Worksheet
Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
A 4 kg cart at 5 m/s hits a 1 kg cart at rest, and they stick together. How much kinetic energy is lost, Bo?
A 1 kg cart at 9 m/s hits a 2 kg cart at rest, and they stick together. How much kinetic energy is lost, Esme?
In the charts, what happens to the momentum, Jun?
- It drops to 0
- It stays 6 kg·m/s
- It doubles
- It drops, since they stuck
Looking at both charts, how should Luz classify this collision?
Use the picture in question 3.
- Perfectly inelastic
- Not a collision; momentum was lost
- Super-elastic
- Elastic, since momentum is kept
Read this first
Collision trials for two carts (example data)
trial kinetic energy before (J) kinetic energy after (J) carts after P 12 12 bounce apart Q 12 8 bounce apart R 12 4 stuck together In the trials table, which trial is elastic, Milo?
- Each of the three
- Trial Q, since the carts bounced apart
- Trial P
- Trial R
In the trials table, what kind of collision is trial Q, Noah?
- Super-elastic
- Inelastic
- Elastic, since the carts bounced
- Perfectly inelastic
In the trials table, which trial lost the most kinetic energy, Pia?
- Trial P
- They lost the same
- Trial Q
- Trial R
A rubber ball and a clay ball are dropped from the same height. The rubber ball bounces high; the clay ball stays put. Which collision is closer to elastic, Ren?
- The rubber ball's
- The clay ball's
- Neither has a collision
- Both are elastic
The clay ball lands and doesn't bounce. What happened to its kinetic energy, Tala?
- It stayed as kinetic energy
- It was destroyed
- It became momentum
- It turned into thermal energy, sound and denting
With a perfectly elastic floor and no air, how high would a dropped ball bounce, Zee?
- Back to its starting height
- Half as high
- Twice as high
- It wouldn't bounce
