A Special Case

An interesting, special case of an elastic collision is a one-dimensional collision in which one of the objects is initially at rest (v_2i = 0).

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These results can be described by the following equations for this special case:

An interesting situation is when the two masses are equal. For m₁ = m₂, we find that v_1f= 0

v_2f = v_1i

This is illustrated with the "colliding balls" apparatus shown here, also known as "Newton's Pendulum".

Elastic Collisions			Rocket Propulsion
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(c) 2002, Doug Davis; all rights reserved