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Grade 11Mechanics

Discuss the possibility that, if only we could take into account internal motions of atoms in objects, all collisions are elastic.

Profile image of Simran Bhatia
11 Years agoGrade 11
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1 Answer

Profile image of Aditi Chauhan
11 Years ago
The entropy of an object depends upon the internal motion of atoms in objects. In an isolated object, if the internal atoms are not interacting with each other, then the entropy of the object will be decrease with time. The decrease in entropy of the object signifies that the object will lose energy. Therefore the collision will not be elastic, because in an elastic collision both momentum and energy is conserved. Thus from the above observation we conclude that, in an isolated object all collisions are elastic if only we could take into account internal motions of atoms in objects.