Question

What are some examples of an elastic collision?

Answer 1

Hint: An elastic collision is a collision between two bodies in which the two bodies' total kinetic energy remains the same. Basically, in the elastic collision, the kinetic energy before the collision and later the collision remains the same and is not converted to any other energy form.

Complete answer:
A collision happens when two items come in immediate contact with each other. It is the case in which two or more bodies apply forces on each other in about a comparatively less time. An elastic collision is that collision in which no kinetic energy is lost in the system due to the collision.
 When two bodies come and collide each other, but no loss in the overall kinetic energy takes place, that type of collision is known as a perfectly elastic collision. However, though there is no difference in the whole system's linear momentum, there is a change in the involved individual momenta.
When we throw a ball on the ground, and it bounces back to our hand, there is no change in the kinetic energy, and hence, it is an elastic collision. When we throw a baseball on the floor, it jumps back. In this example of an elastic collision, both kinetic energy and momentum are conserved. The collision among the atoms, the encounter between two billiard balls, hitting of ball at the billiard table with another ball are some other examples of elastic collision. When we leave a rubber ball on a hard floor, and the encounter between the floor and the ball is elastic, the ball would waste no kinetic energy due to the collision and reflect its original height. However, the original rebound altitude is shorter, showing some loss of kinetic energy in the collision. However, if we neglect the slight loss of K.E., we may consider it as elastic.

Additional Information:
In the inelastic collision, there is kinetic energy loss. The lost kinetic energy is changed into thermal energy, material deformation, and sound energy. Elastic collisions conserve kinetic energy. In Inelastic collisions, the colliding bodies' total kinetic energy before the collision is higher than the bodies' total kinetic energy after the collision.

Note:
The collision time concerns the amount of force that an object feels during a collision. The higher the time over which the collision happens, the less the force acting against the object. Thus, to maximize the force felt by an object during a collision, the contact time must be reduced.