Which of the following best describes a perfectly inelastic collision free of external forces?
A) Total linear momentum is never conserved.
B) Total linear momentum is sometimes conserved.
C) Kinetic energy is never conserved.
D) Kinetic energy is always conserved.
A) Total linear momentum is never conserved.
B) Total linear momentum is sometimes conserved.
C) Kinetic energy is never conserved.
D) Kinetic energy is always conserved.
In a perfectly inelastic collision, kinetic energy is never conserved; some of the initial kinetic energy is always lost to heat and some is converted to potential energy in the deformed shapes of the objects as they lock together.