Why are all collisions not perfectly elastic or inelastic?

An inelastic collision is one in which part of the kinetic energy is changed to some other form of energy in the collision. Any macroscopic collision between objects will convert some of the kinetic energy into internal energy and other forms of energy, so no large scale impacts are perfectly elastic.

Are all collisions either elastic or inelastic?

Key terms

Term (symbol)	Meaning
Totally inelastic collision	Collision where the objects stick together and have the same final velocity. Also called a perfectly inelastic collision.
Explosion	Reverse inelastic collision where momentum is conserved and kinetic energy increases.

Can any real collision ever be truly perfectly elastic Why or why not?

In the physical world, perfectly elastic collisions cannot truly happen. This is because a small amount of energy is lost whenever objects such as bumper cars collide. Only particle physics can be considered as having true ellastic collisions because particles lose virtually no energy when they collide.

What is the difference between inelastic collision and perfectly inelastic collision?

Therefore, in inelastic collision, the kinetic energy is not conserved whereas in a perfectly inelastic collision, maximum kinetic energy is lost and the bodies stick together.

Can a collision ever be truly perfectly elastic?

Perfectly elastic collisions can happen only with subatomic particles. Everyday observable examples of perfectly elastic collisions don’t exist—some kinetic energy is always lost, as it is converted into heat transfer due to friction.

Is there elastic collision in real life?

In the real world, perfectly elastic collision is not possible because there is bound to be some conversion of energy, however small.

Are perfectly elastic collisions possible?

Which of the following is not perfectly inelastic collision?

A ball bearing striking another ball bearing. Note: In ball bearing striking into another ball bearing, the momentum of the balls system is conserved but kinetic energy is lost. Therefore it is not an example of perfectly inelastic collision though.