Billiard ball vs rubber ball collisions
- Authors
- Type
- Published Article
- Journal
- Physics Education
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Publication Date
- Mar 14, 2022
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 3
- Identifiers
- DOI: 10.1088/1361-6552/ac5156
- Source
- ioppublishing
- Keywords
- Disciplines
- License
- Unknown
Abstract
When two billiard balls collide head-on on a smooth, horizontal surface, momentum and kinetic energy are both conserved to a good approximation. If the experiment is repeated with two rubber balls, then kinetic energy is not conserved and neither is momentum. The latter result can be explained in terms of the external friction forces involved.
