Question

The bob A of a pendulum released from 30° to the vertical hits another bob B of the same mass at rest on a table as shown in Fig. 6.15. How high does the bob A rise after the collision? Neglect the size of the bobs and assume the collision to be elastic.

Answer 1

Bob A will not rise at all

In an elastic collision between two equal masses in which one is stationary, while the other is moving with some velocity, the stationary mass acquires the same velocity, while the moving mass immediately comes to rest after collision. In this case, a complete transfer of momentum takes place from the moving mass to the stationary mass.

Hence, bob A of mass m, after colliding with bob B of equal mass, will come to rest, while bob B will move with the velocity of bob A at the instant of collision.