A measure of inelasticity in a head-on collision of two objects is the c
;6neln 6vbub48fy he 1ejz.y/oefficient of restitution, e,
/f4ube ;lh8yy6nv1ej6.nz e b defined as$e=\frac{\nu_\mathrm{A}^{\prime}-\nu_\mathrm{B}^{\prime}}{\nu_\mathrm{B}-\nu_\mathrm{A}},$
where $\nu_\mathrm{A}^{\prime}-\nu_\mathrm{B}^{\prime}$ is the relative velocity of the two objects after the collision and $\nu_\mathrm{B}-\nu_\mathrm{A}$ is their relative velocity before it.
(a) Show that e=1 for a perfectly elastic collision, and e=0 for a completely inelastic collision.
(b) A simple method for measuring the coefficient of restitution for an object colliding with a very hard surface like steel is to drop the object onto a heavy steel plate, as shown in Fig. 7–36. Determine a formula for e in terms of the original height h and the maximum height h’ reached after one collision.