STUDY ON ELASTIC AND

INELASTIC COLLSION USING

PHET SIMULATION

A project report
Submitted to the Department of Physics, St. Xavier’s College,
Maitighar, in the partial fulfillment for the requirement of NEB +2
Science in physics

By
Abhi Kumar Subedi
Class : 11
Section : A
Roll No: 129
Date: 4th March, 2025
 RECOMMENDATION

This is to certify that Mr. Abhi Kumar Subedi has successfully carried out the
project entitled “STUDY OF ELASTIC AND INELASTIC COLLISION USING
PHET SIMULATION” under my guidance and supervision.

I recommend this project for the +2 degree of NEB.

………………………..
Advisor
Mr. Uttam Aryal
Department of physics
St. Xavier’s College,
Maitighar, Kathmandu, Nepal

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from a
number of people and I am extremely fortunate to receive such proper supervision for
the completion of the project. Whatever I have done in this project is only due to such
instructions and assistance, and I would not forget to thank them. I am indebted to our
college St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar along with the Department of Physics of
this college for providing me with such an expressive platform for the project. I am
heartily grateful to the project supervisor and our gratified lecturer of Physics, Mr.
Uttam Aryal. I am thankful and fortunate enough to get constant encouragement,
support and guidance from them, who have helped me in finalizing my project work. I
also thank all the organizations that provided the necessary information for this
project. Lastly, I thank all my friends, my parents for their tremendous contributions
and support both morally and financially towards the completion of this project.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

RECOMMENDATION I

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT II

INTRODUCTION 1

OBJECTIVES 3

METHODOLOGY 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 5

CONCLUSION 9

FUTURE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT 10

REFERENCES 11
 INTRODUCTION
Collision is the mutual interaction between the two particles which results in change
in momentum and kinetic energy for short interval of time. This collision ,as
understood in common language, does not necessarily involve physical contact. For
instance, when an alpha particle with certain velocity approaches towards a nucleus, it
gets deflected without involving any actual contact. But, this is to be considered as a
collision in case of physics. Other daily life examples of collisions includes dashing of
automobiles, hitting a nail with hammer and so on.

PhET (Physics Education Technology) is a non-profit open educational resource

project that creates and hosts explorable explanations. It was first founded by Nobel
Laureate Carl Wieman in 2002. With the main motive to advance science and math
literacy and education worldwide through free interactive simulations, this project
provides environment to test the knowledge of various disciplines of the subjects
areas including physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and mathematics. The
concepts and the results obtained on the topic of this paper about various types of
collisions are tested in this simulation.

Collisions can be broadly classified as : Elastic collisions and Inelastic collisions.

1. Elastic collisions:
A collision is said to be an elastic collision if the linear moment as well as the kinetic
energy of the colliding objects is conserved in the collision ,i.e. the initial and final
momentum and the kinetic energy of the colliding objects is conserved. The forces
involved in this collisions are conservative. Obviously, the total energy of the system
will be conserved and along with that, the mechanical energy will not be converted
into the other sources of energy. This type of collisions occurs in atomic and
elementary particles, gas molecules etc[1].
In order to understand this concept practically, we can take two balls of different
masses moving with certain velocities in same direction. The velocity of rear ball A is
greater than that of front ball B. They collide after certain time interval ’t’. If the
materials of the body are perfectly elastic, during collision, the forces may develop
inside them so that the balls try to regain their original shapes. In this case, the balls

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continue to push each other and the velocity of the front ball increases while that of
the rear ball decreases. The balls, after separation, will regain their original shapes so
that the elastic potential energy is completely converted back into Kinetic Energy.
Here, although the kinetic energy is not constant, the initial and the final kinetic
energy are same[2].

2. Inelastic collisions
The collision in which the momentum is conserved but the Kinetic energy is not
conserved is called inelastic collision. The nature of forces involved in it is non-
conservative. The mechanical energy are lost in other forms of energies such as heat
energy, light energy and sound energy. But, the total energy of the overall system is
conserved. If the collision is perfectly inelastic, the two bodies stick to each other
after collision. Sticking of mud in the wall is perfectly inelastic. Most of the collisions
occurring in our daily life are inelastic. In the above examples of two balls, if the
materials are perfectly inelastic, the balls have no tendency to regain their original
shapes after maximum deformation. As a result, they do not push each other and
continue to move with a common velocity with the deformed shape. The kinetic
energy will decrease at the time of deformation and thereafter remains constant at this
reduced value.
In case of inelastic collisions, the initial kinetic energy (K.E i) is always greater than
the final kinetic energy (K.Ef),i.e.
K.Ei > K.Ef Or, K.Ei = K.Ef + ∆E
In case of the elastic collisions, the velocity of approach is always equal to the
velocity of separation and in case of perfectly inelastic collisions, the velocity of
separation is 0. In inelastic collisions, the velocity of separation is less than that of
approach. Let the velocity of separation be ‘e’ times smaller then that of approach.
Then,
Velocity of separation
e=
Velocity of approach
where ‘e’ is called the coefficient of restitution. It’s value is 0 for perfectly inelastic
collision, 1 for elastic and between 0 and 1 for inelastic collisions[2].

It is very crucial to understand about different types of collisions. Understanding

particle interactions solely rely on concepts of collisions. Collisions between the gas

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molecules explain phenomena like pressure and temperature. Thus, concepts of
collisions is also applicable in understanding kinetic theory of gases.

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 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this report are as follows:
1. To study about different types of collisions using PhET simulation,
2. To analyze the results so obtained in the simulation based on the working
formulas of the collisions,
3. To determine the importance of such collisions in our life.

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 METHODOLOGY

This study employed an experimental design utilizing the PhET Simulations

“Collisions Lab” in order to investigate the elastic and inelastic collisions. In this
repot, a quantitative approach was adopted, focusing on the measurement and analysis
of the numeric data related to the various variables such as velocity, kinetic energy
and momentum involved in the collision. Comparative and analytical approach was
adopted by comparing the graphs of the variables to examine the key differences
between the elastic and inelastic collision outcomes under various conditions. It is
also to be noted that this experiment is performed for 1-D collisions.

As mentioned, the “collision lab” simulation from PhET was selected for the above
project due to its accuracy, user friendly interface and effective options. The
simulation allowed for precise measure and manipulation of object masses, initial
velocities, and the restitution coefficient (e). Before taking the values, the variables
involved were first groped as “independent” and “dependent” variables. Those values
that we were able to change before the collisions such as the masses of the colliding
objects, their initial velocities as well as the restitution of coefficients were taken as
independent variables. Similarly, the outcomes such as the final velocities, final K.E
and momentum and directions of motion of the colliding objects after collision were
listed as dependent variables.

For elastic collisions, the value of e was set to 1, and for the perfectly inelastic
collisions, the value was set to 0. The inelastic collisions were studied for various
values of e from 0 to 1. The data were recorded by taking screenshots of the
simulation before and after the collisions as well as manual records of some required
values were managed in spreadsheet software. 5 trails were conducted for each
experiment to ensure data reliability. In case of inelastic collisions, 5 different values
of restitution coefficient ’e’ were also additionally taken for same masses and initial
velocities in order to investigate the relationship between loss of Kinetic Energy and
e. The data so obtained were graphed and visualized using bar charts and scatter plots.

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

(a) (b)
Fig-1: Using PhET simulation for elastic collisions in 1-D

The above screenshots were taken while using PhET simulation for studying elastic
collisions for multiple independent variable values. The data so obtained are as
follows:
Table 1: Representation of the data so obtained for elastic collisions
Initial mass Initial mass Initial Initial Final Final
S.N of body A of body velocity of A velocity of B velocity of A velocity of B
(kg) B(kg) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s)
1 0.5 1.5 1 -0.5 -1.25 0.25
2 0.1 2.5 0.8 0.5 0.22 0.52
3 2.7 0.4 1 0.4 0.85 1.45
4 1.95 0.88 0.85 -1.2 -0.42 1.63
5 0.9 0.69 -0.25 -1.2 -1.07 -0.12

The above data are interpreted graphically below:

(a) (b) (c)

Fig-2:Analysis of variables involved in 1-D elastic collision for 2 balls (a) Line graph for change in
momentum vs total mass of the balls (b) Line graph representing variation of Initial Kinetic energy with respect to
final Kinetic energy and (c) Bar graph for initial and final momentum

The above graphs represent the relationship between different independent and
dependent variables involved in the 1-D elastic collisions. The first graph (a) shows
how the change in kinetic energy varies with the total mass of the bodies involved in
the elastic collision. The dotted line represents the best fit line for the scattered points
and demonstrates that the change in Kinetic energy is tending to be constant with
respect to the mass. This also clarifies that there is no change in the total kinetic

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energy in elastic collisions K.E before the collisions in equal to the K.E after the
collision. The second graph (b) implies that there is linear relationship between the
initial and final kinetic energy which further suggests that the change is constant. The
bar graph (c) illustrates that the total initial and final momentum of the collisions are
same.

(a) (b)
Fig-3: Using PhET simulation for inelastic collisions in 1-D

Similarly, the above screenshots represent use of Collision Lab for studying about
inelastic collisions for diverse values of e. The data so obtained for the inelastic
collisions are as follows:
Table 2: Representation of the data so obtained for inelastic collisions
Initial mass Initial mass Initial Initial Final Final
S.
e of body A of body velocity of A velocity of B velocity of A velocity of B
N
(kg) B(kg) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s)
1 0.9 1.2 2.4 2 -1.5 -2.43 0.72
2 0.75 1.2 2.4 2 -1.5 -2.08 0.54
3 0.6 1.2 2.4 2 -1.5 -1.73 0.37
4 0.45 1.2 2.4 2 -1.5 -1.38 0.19
5 0.3 1.2 2.4 2 -1.5 -1.03 0.02
It can be clearly observed that the independent variables such as masses and the initial
velocities are kept constant except for the diverse values of restitution coefficient for
the sole purpose of analyzing the variation of Kinetic energy and moment with respect
to the restitution coefficient, e. The results so obtained are represented using line
graphs as follows:
5 ∆K.E vs e Graph ∆p vs e Graph
4.5 0 0 ∆p vs 0
4 0 . 9 0 . 7 5 e0 . 6 0 . 4 5 0 . 3
3.5 -0.002
3 -0.004 Graph
2.5 -0.006
2 -0.008
1.5 - - -
1 -0.01
0.011999 0.011999 0.011999
0.5 -0.012
9999999 9999999 9999999
0 -0.014 998 996 998
0.9 0.75 0.6 0.45 0.3

(a) (b)
Fig-4:Analysis of variables involved in 1-D inelastic collision for 2 balls. Line graphs representing change in (a)
Kinetic energy and (b) Momentum with respect to the restitution coefficient (e).

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Similar screenshots, tabular and graphical representation of the simulations and the
data obtained for perfectly inelastic collisions are represented below:

Fig-5: Using PhET simulation for perfectly inelastic collisions in 1-D

Table 2: Representation of the data so obtained for inelastic collisions

Initial mass Initial mass Initial Initial Final Final

of body A of body velocity of A velocity of B velocity of A velocity of B
S.N (kg) B(kg) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s)
1 0.5 0.9 1.6 0.9 1.15 1.15
2 0.1 2 1.6 -1.5 -1.35 -1.35
3 1.9 2.1 1.9 -1.7 0.01 0.01
4 1.1 1.7 1.1 0.55 0.77 0.77
5 1.9 0.12 0.54 -0.34 0.49 0.49

V a r i ati o n o f i n i ti a l an d fi n al
Variation of Initial and Final Kinetic momentum
energy
8 10
6 5
4 0
-5 1 2 3 4 5
2
-10
0
1 2 3 4 5
Final momentum
K.E before K.E after Initial momentum

(a) (b)
Fig-6:Analysis of variables involved in 1-D perfectly inelastic collision for 2 balls. (a) Bar graph representing the
variation of Initial and final Kinetic energy and (b) Line graph representing initial and final momentum

Applications of collisions:

The concept of Kinetic theory of gases and sub-atomic particles are also based on the
concept of elastic collisions. Although we do not encounter many elastic collisions in
our daily life, understanding and applying its concept to the daily life problems can

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aid in solving them that can involve a lot of unknown values. The solution is often
adequate as the collision is very close to being perfectly elastic[4].

Many real world applications, including automobile airbags exist in understanding the
core concept of various mechanisms of collisions. These airbags increase the time of
collapse and decrease the effects of force on bodies at the time of collisions. This is
accomplished by airbags by extending the time needed to halt the momentum of the
driver and passenger. The collisions of the balls in the game of pool is almost elastic,
due to the hardness of the pool balls and their tendency to not stick together. The
colliding of the lumps of soil or clay can be considered as example of inelastic
collisions. By understanding the collision mechanisms and its impacts in the
automobiles, the car manufactures actually design and build their cars a feature
known as a crumple zone. Crumple zone is a section in which the materials are put
together in such a way as to ensure that they will crumple when the car experiences
collisions. This can greatly reduce the effect of the force a car and its occupants must
endure in the crash. Other physical significances such as hitting a ball with bat in
baseballs and crickets also rely on the concepts of head on collisions and impulses[5].

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 CONCLUSION

With the help of Collision labs, a interactive PhET simulation, different types of
collisions were compared and analyzed . This was done by the help of graphs based
on the data obtained from the simulations. The variables involved in the collisions
were compared analytically, understating their variations or roles in the overall
collisions. Along with that, the crucial applications of collisions from micro to macro
scale were also discussed with the aid of diverse daily-life based examples.

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 FUTURE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

This project is solely based on the results shown by the simulation. The real life
implementations involves other important variables such as air resistance which is not
included in the simulation. Future researches can base their experiment in real life-
like conditions and simulations providing more reliable results which is applicable in
macro-level collisions. It can unlock reliable data which can be taken as a base to
design other daily life equipment. Although the above project is bounded to limited
dimensions and variables, further aspects can be considered in the upcoming
researches for better data collection and more precise interpretation. Upcoming and
emerging platforms of Phet simulation or that of other simulations can be taken to
further advance the research. Future development can focus on the above points to
enhance the level of the project. This project’s core idea can be adapted for use in
other industries, such as in sport analytics, robotics and even health cares in an
advance way to enhance the current technologies and methods practiced [4,5].

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 REFERENCES

Books:
[1] H. Paudyal, M.K. Thapa, A.K. Gautam, B.R. Adhikari and P.R. Poudel, Principles
of Physics, Grade XI (2024)
[2] H.C. Verma , Concepts of Physics, Vol. 1 (2024)

Websites:
[3] https://www.wikipedia.com (accessed 2025)
[4] https://www.turito.com/blog/physics/elastic-collision
[5] http://www.scienceclarified.com/everyday/Real-Life-Chemistry-
Vol-3-Physics-Vol-1/Momentum-Real-life-applications.html

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