Two Ball Collisions

This applet can be used to simulate a variety of 1D and 2D elastic and inelastic collisions.

Related Questions

  1. Initially work in the lab frame, and set the collision to be head on (d, the horizontal offset of the line of approach, should be set to 0). Investigate elastic (e=1.0) and inelastic collisions (e set to anything else!) for various mass ratios. What combination of parameters simulates:
    1. The collision of two snooker balls
    2. A lump of wet putty being thrown at a wall.
  2. Now offset the line of approach of the blue ball by 0.5 the radius of the balls; momentum (and possibly energy — depending on your value of e — will be conserved in 2 dimensions) Re-run the applet using the parameters you found to simulate the above collisions. Can you rationalise what you see?
  3. Finally, take a look at your chosen collisions from a different reference frame; the refererence frame of the center of mass (CoM). Why does the red ball — which is stationary in the lab frame — now move to the left prior to the collision?