Inelastic Collision - Formula

Formula

The formula for the velocities after a one-dimensional collision are:

where

va is the final velocity of the first object after impact
vb is the final velocity of the second object after impact
ua is the initial velocity of the first object before impact
ub is the initial velocity of the second object before impact
ma is the mass of the first object
mb is the mass of the second object
CR is the coefficient of restitution; if it is 1 we have an elastic collision; if it is 0 we have a perfectly inelastic collision, see below.

In a center of momentum frame the formulas reduce to:

For two- and three-dimensional collisions the velocities in these formulas are the components perpendicular to the tangent line/plane at the point of contact.

Read more about this topic:  Inelastic Collision

Famous quotes containing the word formula:

    Given for one instant an intelligence which could comprehend all the forces by which nature is animated and the respective positions of the beings which compose it, if moreover this intelligence were vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in the same formula both the movements of the largest bodies in the universe and those of the lightest atom; to it nothing would be uncertain, and the future as the past would be present to its eyes.
    Pierre Simon De Laplace (1749–1827)

    So, if we must give a general formula applicable to all kinds of soul, we must describe it as the first actuality [entelechy] of a natural organized body.
    Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)

    My formula for greatness in human beings is amor fati: that one wants to change nothing, neither forwards, nor backwards, nor in all eternity. Not merely to endure necessity, still less to hide it—all idealism is mendacity in the face of necessity—but rather to love it.
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)