Elasticity Explained: How Materials Stretch and Return

An elastic collision is a type of collision where both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. This means that after two objects collide, they bounce off each other with no loss of energy to heat, sound, or deformation. Instead, the energy is transferred cleanly from one object to another. We can see a clear example of this in a well-known physics demonstration involving two suspended bowling balls. In this setup, one ball is pulled back and released. It swings forward, collides with the seco