Two-Body Elastic Collisions

An elastic collision is defined as one in which there is no loss of kinetic energy in the collision. An inelastic collision is one in which part of the kinetic energy is changed to some other form of energy in the collision. Inelastic collisions between objects are common in everyday life. They are the situations in which some of the kinetic energy converts into internal energy or other forms of energy. Molecular collisions in hot gases at low-pressure approach perfectly elastic collisions. Also, some large-scale interactions like interactions between satellites and planets are perfectly elastic. The assumption of conservation of momentum as well as the conservation of kinetic energy makes possible the calculation of the final velocities in two-body collisions.