A collision which is inelastic is one in which the internal energy changes.
All the kinetic energy is dissipated
Reasons:
The given parameters are;
The mass of one car = The mass of the second car in the collision = m
The type of collision = Inelastic collision
The speed of each of the cars in the collision = v and -v
Solution:
In an inelastic collision, we have;
Therefore, we get;
Which gives;
The collision is an example of a perfectly inelastic collision, and the final velocity after the collision is zero.
The change in the energy is
= 0.5·m·v² + 0.5·m·v² = m·v²
ΔK.E. = 0.5·(2·m)×0 - 0.5·m·v² + 0.5·m·v² = -m·v²
ΔK.E. = -m·v²
The negative sign stands for energy given out, which gives;
The energy dissipated = m·v² (The total initial kinetic energy)
Therefore, <u>all the kinetic energy is dissipated</u>
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