Relative speed retention in an oblique collision
ID: relative-speed-retention-in-an-oblique-collision
For a two-particle collision conserving total momentum, the outgoing speeds in the centre-of-momentum frame are multiplied by the same . The relative kinetic energy is multiplied by . For a smooth oblique collision with normal coefficient of restitution and incident relative velocity inclined by to the contact normal, unchanged tangential relative motion gives . Thus is not a general oblique-impact identity: and give . Sticking requires all relative motion to vanish, not merely its normal component.
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