University Physics I - Classical Mechanics, 2019

80 CHAPTER 4. KINETIC ENERGY
another we just add or subtract from all the velocities the relative velocity of the two frames. This
operation, however, will not change any of the relative velocities of the parts of the system, since
these are all differences to begin with. Mathematically,
regardless of the value of v ′ .
(v 2 + v ′ ) − (v 1 + v ′ )=v 2 − v 1
So there something we might call absolute (as opposed to “relative”) about the convertible kinetic
energy: it is the same, it will have the same value, for any observer, regardless of how fast or in
what direction that observer may be moving relative to the system as a whole. We may think of it
as an intrinsic (meaning, observer-independent) property of the system.
4.3 In summary
1. The kinetic energy of a particle of mass m moving with velocity v is defined as K = 1 2 mv2 .It
is a scalar quantity, and it is always positive. For a system of particles or an extended object,
we define K sys as the sum of the kinetic energies of all the particles making up the system.
2. For any system, the total kinetic energy can be written as the sum of the translational (or
center of mass) kinetic energy, K cm , and another term that involves the motion of the parts
of the system relative to each other. (See Eq. (4.11) above.) The translational kinetic energy
is constant for an isolated system, and is always given by K cm = 1 2 Mv2 cm .
3. The kinetic energy of relative motion (which, in the context of collisions, is called the convertible
energy) is given, for the special case of a system consisting of two particles (or two
non-rotating extended objects), by K conv = 1 2 μv2 12 ,whereμ = m 1m 2 /(m 1 +m 2 ) is the reduced
mass, and v 12 = v 2 − v 1 is the relative velocity of the two objects.
4. In a one-dimensional collision between two objects that do not pass through each other, the
convertible energy always drops to zero at some point, as a result of the interaction; that is,
it is converted entirely into some other form of energy. At the end of the interaction, all the
convertible energy may be recovered (elastic collision), or only part of it (inelastic collision),
or none of it (completely inelastic collision).
5. In terms of the coefficient of restitution e, defined as e = −v 12,f /v 12,i , elastic collisions have
e = 1, totally inelastic collisions have e = 0, and inelastic collisions 0