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Grade 11Mechanics

We have seen that conservation of momentum may apply whether kinetic energy is conserved or not. What about the reverse; that is, does the conservation of kinetic energy imply the conservation of momentum in classical physics? (See “Connection Between conservation of Energy and Conservation of Momentum,” by Carl G. Adler, American Journal of Physics, May 1976, p. 483.)

Profile image of Simran Bhatia
11 Years agoGrade 11
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1 Answer

Profile image of Aditi Chauhan
11 Years ago
A collision is said to be perfectly elastic if law of conservation of momentum and that of kinetic energy hold good during the collision and a collision is said to be inelastic if law of conservation of momentum holds good during collision while that of kinetic energy is not. So both in elastic and non-elastic collision the momentum is conserved. Therefore the momentum is always a conserved quantity in a collision. Thus the conservation of kinetic energy implies the conservation of momentum in classical physics.