Why don't inelastic collisions conserve energy?

Answer 1

Because some of the original energy goes to doing work, of some kind, such that it is lost to the system.

Examples:

In the first example, that is a fully inelastic collision because the 2 masses remain stuck together. In the second example, if the 2 cars bounce off separately, that was an inelastic collision, but not fully inelastic.

Momentum is conserved in both cases, but not energy.

I hope this helps, Steve

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Answer 2

OMG

Energy is always conserved

But there is no law that says that Kinetic Energy is always conserved.

Inelastic collisions are defined as those in which Kinetic Energy is not conserved

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Answer 3

In inelastic collisions, kinetic energy is not conserved because some of the kinetic energy is transformed into other forms of energy, such as thermal energy, sound energy, or deformation energy. This transformation occurs due to the nature of the collision, where the objects involved stick together or deform upon impact, causing energy to be dissipated in the form of heat, sound, or deformation. As a result, the total kinetic energy before and after the collision is not the same, leading to a loss of energy and the lack of conservation of kinetic energy in inelastic collisions.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

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