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I am curious as to
what wording to use when things are colliding and materials are being
deformed (permanently or temporarily) and kinetic energy is "being
converted" to thermal energy.
If the definition of work is basically F times delta-x (with the usual
integral stuff as necessary), isn't that happening with the floor and the
dropped object.
Clearly a third-law action/reaction pair exists. And clearly the force of
the ball on the floor is moving/deforming the floor a bit, and the force of
the floor on the ball is moving/deforming the ball a bit. The "delta-x" is
pretty small, but the impulsive forces are huge
I also don't understand why John says the floor doesn't gain much thermal
energy from this interaction. Doesn't it depend on what the floor is. If
the floor were covered with inelastic rubber floor mats I would think the
"floor" would gain more thermal energy than the ball.