Physics
Textbooks
Boundless Physics
Linear Momentum and Collisions
Collisions
Physics Textbooks Boundless Physics Linear Momentum and Collisions Collisions
Physics Textbooks Boundless Physics Linear Momentum and Collisions
Physics Textbooks Boundless Physics
Physics Textbooks
Physics
Concept Version 4
Created by Boundless

Glancing Collisions

Glancing collision is a collision that takes place under a small angle, with the incident body being nearly parallel to the surface.

Learning Objective

  • Identify necessary conditions for a "glancing collision"


Key Points

    • Collision is short duration interaction between two bodies or more than two bodies simultaneously causing change in motion of bodies involved due to internal forces acted between them during this.
    • Collisions can either be elastic, meaning they conserve both momentum and kinetic energy, or inelastic, meaning they conserve momentum but not kinetic energy.
    • When dealing with an incident body that is nearly parallel to a surface, it is sometimes more useful to refer to the angle between the body and the surface, rather than that between the body and the surface normal.

Terms

  • kinetic energy

    The energy possessed by an object because of its motion, equal to one half the mass of the body times the square of its velocity.

  • momentum

    (of a body in motion) the product of its mass and velocity.

  • force

    A physical quantity that denotes ability to push, pull, twist or accelerate a body which is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance/time² (ML/T²): SI: newton (N); CGS: dyne (dyn)


Full Text

A collision is short duration interaction between two bodies or more than two bodies simultaneously causing change in motion of bodies involved due to internal forces acted between them during this. Collisions involve forces (there is a change in velocity). The magnitude of the velocity difference at impact is called the closing speed. All collisions conserve momentum. What distinguishes different types of collisions is whether they also conserve kinetic energy. Line of impact - It is the line which is common normal for surfaces are closest or in contact during impact. This is the line along which internal force of collision acts during impact and Newton's coefficient of restitution is defined only along this line.

When dealing with an incident body that is nearly parallel to a surface, it is sometimes more useful to refer to the angle between the body and the surface, rather than that between the body and the surface normal (see ), in other words 90° minus the angle of incidence. This small angle is called a glancing angle. Collision at glancing angle is called "glancing collision".

Collision

Object is deflected after the collision withthe surface. The angles between the body and the surface normal areindicated as α and β. The angles between the body and the surface are 90 - α and 90 - β.

Collisions can either be elastic, meaning they conserve both momentum and kinetic energy, or inelastic, meaning they conserve momentum but not kinetic energy. An inelastic collision is sometimes also called a plastic collision.

A "perfectly-inelastic" collision (also called a "perfectly-plastic" collision) is a limiting case of inelastic collision in which the two bodies stick together after impact.

The degree to which a collision is elastic or inelastic is quantified by the coefficient of restitution, a value that generally ranges between zero and one. A perfectly elastic collision has a coefficient of restitution of one; a perfectly-inelastic collision has a coefficient of restitution of zero.

[ edit ]
Edit this content
Prev Concept
Conservation of Energy and Momentum
Elastic Collisions in One Dimension
Next Concept
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.