Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
An elastic collision is a type of collision where both kinetic energy and linear momentum are conserved. In this type of collision, objects bounce off each other without any loss of energy.
Kinetic energy refers to the energy possessed by an object due to its motion and depends on both mass and velocity.
Coefficient of Restitution: This value represents how bouncy or elastic a collision is and ranges from 0 (completely inelastic) to 1 (completely elastic).
Recoil Velocity: Recoil velocity refers to the backward movement experienced by one object after an elastic collision with another object.