Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Two blocks M1 and M2 having equal mass are free to move on a horizontal frictionless surface. M2 is attached to a massless spring as shown in figure. Iniially M2 is at rest and M1 is moving toward M2 with speed v and collides head-on with M2.

- While spring is fully compressed all the KE of M1 is stored as PE of spring.
- While spring is fully compressed the system momentum is not conserved, though final momentum is equal to initial momentum.
- If spring is massless, the final state of the M1 is state of rest.
- If the surface on which blocks are moving has friction, then collision cannot be elastic.
Advertisements
Solution
c and d
Explanation:
If it is not specified we always consider the collision elastic.
When two bodies of equal masses collide elastically, their velocities are interchanged in these types of collision.
Kinetic energy and linear momentum remain conserved.
According to the above diagram when m1 comes in contact with the spring, m1 is retarded by the spring force and m2 is accelerated by the spring force.
- The spring will continue to compress until the two blocks acquire a common velocity. So some of the kinetic energy of block Mx is stored in P.E and some part of it stores in K.E of block M2. So option (a) is incorrect.
- As surfaces are frictionless momentum of the system will be conserved. So option (b) is also incorrect.
- The two bodies of equal mass exchange their velocities in a head-on elastic collision between them. So, if spring is massless, the final state of the M1 is a state of rest.
- Since there is a loss of K.E when the blocks collide on the rough surface. Hence, the collision is inelastic.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
In an inelastic collision of two bodies, the quantities which do not change after the collision are the ______ of the system of two bodies.
State if the following statement is true or false. Give a reason for your answer.
In an elastic collision of two bodies, the momentum and energy of each body is conserved.
State if the following statement is true or false. Give a reason for your answer.
Total energy of a system is always conserved, no matter what internal and external forces on the body are present.
Answer carefully, with reason:
If the potential energy of two billiard balls depends only on the separation distance between their centres, is the collision elastic or inelastic? (Note, we are talking here of potential energy corresponding to the force during collision, not gravitational potential energy.)
Two identical ball bearings in contact with each other and resting on a frictionless table are hit head-on by another ball bearing of the same mass moving initially with a speed V. If the collision is elastic, which of the following figure is a possible result after collision?

Define coefficient of restitution.
A bomb of mass 9 kg explodes into two pieces of mass 3 kg and 6 kg. The velocity of mass 3 kg is 16 m/s, The kinetic energy of mass 6 kg is ____________.
A mass M moving with velocity 'v' along x-axis collides and sticks to another mass 2M which is moving along Y-axis with velocity 3v. After collision, the velocity of the combination is ______.
Two bodies of masses 3 kg and 2 kg collide bead-on. Their relative velocities before and after collision are 20 m/s and 5 m/s respectively. The loss of kinetic energy of the system is ______.
During inelastic collision between two bodies, which of the following quantities always remain conserved?
Two identical ball bearings in contact with each other and resting on a frictionless table are hit head-on by another ball bearing of the same mass moving initially with a speed V as shown in figure.

If the collision is elastic, which of the following (Figure) is a possible result after collision?
A cricket ball of mass 150 g moving with a speed of 126 km/h hits at the middle of the bat, held firmly at its position by the batsman. The ball moves straight back to the bowler after hitting the bat. Assuming that collision between ball and bat is completely elastic and the two remain in contact for 0.001s, the force that the batsman had to apply to hold the bat firmly at its place would be ______.
In an elastic collision of two billiard balls, which of the following quantities remain conserved during the short time of collision of the balls (i.e., when they are in contact).
- Kinetic energy.
- Total linear momentum?
Give reason for your answer in each case.
A ball of mass m, moving with a speed 2v0, collides inelastically (e > 0) with an identical ball at rest. Show that for a general collision, the angle between the two velocities of scattered balls is less than 90°.
The bob A of a pendulum released from horizontal to the vertical hits another bob B of the same mass at rest on a table as shown in figure.

If the length of the pendulum is 1 m, calculate
- the height to which bob A will rise after collision.
- the speed with which bob B starts moving. Neglect the size of the bobs and assume the collision to be elastic.
A ball is thrown upwards from the foot of a tower. The ball crosses the top of tower twice after an interval of 4 seconds and the ball reaches ground after 8 seconds, then the height of tower is ______ m. (g = 10 m/s2)
A bag of sand of mass 9.8 kg is suspended by a rope. A bullet of 200 g travelling with speed 10 ms-1 gets embedded in it, then loss of kinetic energy will be ______.
What is a collision?
