Question

Object A with a mass of 500 kilograms hits stationary object B with a mass of 920 kilograms. If the collision is elastic, what happens after the collision?
A)Both object A and object B move forward but with different velocities.

B)Object A and object B stick together and move forward together.

C)Object B moves forward, but object A moves backward.

D)Object A stops and object B moves forward.

Answer 1

In elastic collision, both the kinetic energy and momentum are conserved. Conservation means that both the kinetic energy and momentum will have the same values before and after elastic collision.

As the object A has low mass than object B. Hence upon collision, object B moves forward, while object A will move backward. So option "C" is correct.