Question

Describe a collision in which all kinetic energy is lost.

Short answer

When a piece of putty falls on a solid surface and sticks, it loses all of its kinetic energy during the collision.

Step-by-step solution

Determine the nature of the collision: elastic or inelastic

The kinetic energy is lost during an inelastic collision. All kinetic energy is lost during a perfectly inelastic collision.

Here, all the kinetic energy is lost during the collision, so it is inelastic

Consider an example

When a piece of putty falls on a solid surface and sticks, it loses all of its kinetic energy during the collision. Just before the collision, the putty has some kinetic energy. But after the collision, it sticks to the surface and does not move. Therefore, the kinetic energy of the putty becomes zero after the collision.

Similarly, if a heavy truck collides with a car head-on, the collision is inelastic because the bodies almost lose all their energy and stick to each other after the collision.