Elastic and inelastic collisions
Grade 11 Science Worksheet
Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
A 2 kg cart at 6 m/s hits a 1 kg cart at rest, and they stick together. How much kinetic energy is lost, Ari?
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 doubles
- It drops, since they stuck
- It stays 6 kg·m/s
- It drops to 0
In the charts, what happens to the kinetic energy, Kira?
Use the picture in question 4.
- It rises to 12 J
- It stays 9 J
- It drops to 0 J
- It drops from 9 J to 6 J
Looking at both charts, how should Luz classify this collision?
Use the picture in question 4.
- Perfectly inelastic
- Super-elastic
- Not a collision; momentum was lost
- 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?
- Trial P
- Trial R
- Trial Q, since the carts bounced apart
- Each of the three
In the trials table, what kind of collision is trial Q, Noah?
- Perfectly inelastic
- Elastic, since the carts bounced
- Inelastic
- Super-elastic
In the trials table, which trial lost the most kinetic energy, Pia?
- They lost the same
- Trial P
- Trial R
- Trial Q
The clay ball lands and doesn't bounce. What happened to its kinetic energy, Tala?
- It stayed as kinetic energy
- It turned into thermal energy, sound and denting
- It was destroyed
- It became momentum