Perfectly inelastic collision
Definition
QUICK PHRASES: collision with no bouncing back, perfectly sticky collision
A collision between two (or more) bodies is termed a perfectly inelastic collision if, after the collision, the bodies stick to each other, i.e., their relative speed after the collision is zero.
Note that the term inelastic collision is used for any collision that is not a perfectly elastic collision, and an inelastic collision need not be a perfectly inelastic collision.
Related notions
- Perfectly elastic collision
- Coefficient of restitution: This measures the extent to which the bodies bounce back after the collision. The number is usually between and , with indicating a perfectly inelastic collision and indicating a perfectly elastic collision.
