HSC Physics Bouncing Superballs
/A tutorial sheet involving collisions is given below.
- A tennis ball is dropped from a height h1. It bounces to a height h2. Is momentum conserved in the collision? Is kinetic energy conserved in the collision? Is energy conserved in the collision?
- A steel ball bearing of mass M moving at a speed U collides in a line with two balls of mass M that are at rest. Why doesn't each ball move at U/3 after the collision?
- Imagine two superballs, of different mass, placed one on top of the other and dropped from a height H very large compared to the radius of each ball. Assuming an elastic collision with the ground, what is the maximum height to which the top superball can bounce? [9 H]
- For more multi-highball problems see Anthony Anderson, Physics Education, vol 34, number 2, March 1999, page 76.
