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Grade 10Mechanics

A high-school science student claims to have invented simple glass marbles that collide with perfectly elastic collisions. He demonstrates this by shooting one marble at another; you hear the snap of the collision and then see the marbles move apart. Repeated measurements always indicate that the collision is elastic within the measurement accuracy of the equipment. Is the collision elastic? Why or why not?

Profile image of Hrishant Goswami
11 Years agoGrade 10
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1 Answer

Profile image of Jitender Pal
11 Years ago
No, this is not an elastic collision. At the time of collision between the marbles, there is the production of sound. This shows that some energy is dissipated in the form of sound energy to the surrounding from the system of two marbles. So, energy is lost during the collision. Therefore, the collision is in elastic collision.