collision

[hadarmo2]

Hi,

I am confused about what happens dring the impulse moment in collision between to objects-if a man is standing and the car hits him,does this mean it is an inelastic collision? and a part of the car's kinetic energy is transferred to the man?what is the difference though, between an iron man falling towards a concrete ground? does that mean that his kinetic energy is conserved from with in? and what exactly does this mean?

Thanks

[timo]

Inelastic collisions mean that some of the kinetic energy that existed before the collision is converted to a different form of collision (e.g. into deformation of an object and ultimately heat). If kinetic energy is merely transferred from one of the colliding objects to the other the process is still called elastic. Hence, the part of a car accident where a car hits a pedestrian such that he or she is thrown through the air is an elastic collision. The part of the collision that causes the car and the person to take damage through deformation (except for the damage taken through landing after having flown through the air ) is the inelastic part. Collisions of things hitting the ground without bouncing back are obviously fully-inelastic.