The amount of collision events in our daily lives, whether at the atomic scale or at macroscopic scale is considerable and therefore efforts in studies that increase our understanding of these collisions are essential both for teaching as for the development of future technologies. In collision processes, the coefficient of restitution is associated with the degree of elasticity of the collision between the bodies in concerned and allows us to classify the collision as elastic, inelastic and super-elastic. However, it is unusual to see in literature a comprehensive and detailed mathematical approach to explain, in a didactic way, this classification, which leads to the emergence of doubts about the coefficient of restitution. In accordance with this context, we develop in this article, detailed and appropriate demonstrations for each case, in addition to present examples of endoérgicas and exoérgicas collisions.
Keywords:
Coefficient of restitution; endoergic collision; exoergic collision and types of collision
