"Why is it that this amount of lost KE
does not depend on the materials of which the objects are made?"
It DOES depend on these details, in the sense that 1/2 the KE will be
dissipated ONLY if these details produce an interaction which results in a
common final velocity. The "common velocity outcome" is simply a fortunate,
observable "gauge" telling you what the interaction details have done. It
is not the "cause" of the outcome; it is part of the outcome.
Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net http://www.velocity.net/~trebor
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Abineri" <dabineri@CHOICE.NET>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:43 PM
Subject: Loss of KE
| In an ideal inelastic collision (objects stick together) between two
| equal masses with one stationary initially, one half of the KE is lost
| (transferred to another form). Why is it that this amount of lost KE
| does not depend on the materials of which the objects are made? It would
| seem that one should get different results if they were made of steel vs
| foam rubber for example.
|
| Is this simply because this is an ideal situation or is there more to it
| than this?
|
| Thanks for any insights, David Abineri
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