2-Dimensional Elastic Collisions without Trigonometry

Last revision: 2009-08-03

This document is intended to introduce you to solving 2-dimensional elastic collision ro!lems "or circles without com licated trigonometry# $t is much easier to use vectors to solve 2dimensional collision ro!lems than to use trigonometry# $" you are un"amiliar with vectors% a we! search "or &vectors& should yield a variety o" introductions# 'e aware that vectors are commonly re resented in two ways# (ne way is to s eci"y a magnitude and an angle# The other is to s eci"y the com onents )ty ically in the * and y directions+# The two "orms re resent the same in"ormation and can !e interconverted% !ut "or some tas,s one "orm may !e more convenient than the other# Trigonometry is im ortant "or understanding the conce t o" vectors# -owever% the goal o" this document is to avoid tedious )and com utationally e* ensive+ trigonometry# There"ore we will only use the com onent re resentation o" a vector% not the magnitude and angle "orm# This reduces the actual com utations to addition% su!traction% multi lication% division% and s.uare roots# /otation: Throughout this document% m is mass and v is velocity# 0u!scri ts 1 and 2 distinguish !etween the two colliding o!2ects# 3n a ostro he a"ter a varia!le means that the value is ta,en after the collision )called prime4 i#e#% v' is 5v rime6+#

7hysics o" elastic collisions in one dimension

3n elastic collision is a collision in which ,inetic energy is conserved# That means no energy is lost as heat or sound during the collision# $n the real world% there are no er"ectly elastic collisions on an everyday scale o" si8e# 'ut you can get the sense o" an elastic collision !y imagining a er"ect ool !all which doesn9t waste any energy when it collides# $n an elastic collision% !oth ,inetic energy and momentum are conserved )the total !e"ore and a"ter the collision remains the same+# :omentum is the roduct o" mass and velocity: p =mv The ,inetic energy o" an o!2ect is one-hal" times its mass times the s.uare o" its velocity: 1 KE = mv 2 2 /ow it is easy to write the conservation o" momentum and ,inetic energy as two e.uations: Conservation o" momentum: m1 v1 m2 v2 =m1 v 1 m2 v 2 1 1 1 2 ,2 1 ,2 m1 v 2 Conservation o" ,inetic energy: 1 m 2 v2= m 1 v1 m 2 v 2 2 2 2 2 Com!ining these two e.uations and doing a lot o" alge!ra gives the "inal )a"ter collision+ velocities o" o!2ects 1 and 2: v 1 m1m2 2 m2 v 2 v 2 m2 m1 2 m1 v1 v, v, 1= 2= m 1 m 2 m 1 m 2 This result allows us to "ind the velocity o" two o!2ects a"ter undergoing a one-dimensional elastic collision# ;e will use this result later in the 2-dimensional case#
, ,

Elastic collisions in two dimensions

;e will "ollow a <-ste rocess to "ind the new velocities o" two o!2ects a"ter a collision# The !asic goal o" the rocess is to ro2ect the velocity vectors o" the two o!2ects onto the vectors which are normal ) er endicular+ and tangent to the sur"ace o" the collision# This gives us a normal com onent and a tangential com onent "or each velocity# The tangential com onents o" the velocities are not changed !y the collision !ecause there is no "orce along the line tangent to the collision sur"ace# The normal com onents o" the velocities undergo a one-dimensional collision% which can !e com uted using the one-dimensional collision "ormulas resented a!ove# /e*t the unit normal vector is multi lied !y the scalar ) lain num!er% not a vector+ normal velocity a"ter the collision to get a vector which has a direction normal to the collision sur"ace and a magnitude which is the normal com onent o" the velocity a"ter the collision# The same is done with the unit tangent vector and the tangential velocity com onent# =inally the new velocity vectors are "ound !y adding the normal velocity and tangential velocity vectors "or each o!2ect# 1# =ind unit normal and unit tangent vectors# The unit normal vector is a vector which has a magnitude o" 1 and a direction that is normal ) er endicular+ to the sur"aces o" the o!2ects at the oint o" collision# The unit tangent vector is a vector with a magnitude o" 1 which is tangent to the circles9 sur"aces at the oint o" collision# =irst "ind a normal vector# This is done !y ta,ing a vector whose com onents are the di""erence !etween the coordinates o" the centers o" the circles# Let x1% x2% y1% and y2 !e the x and y coordinates o" the centers o" the circles# )$t does not matter which circle is la!eled 1 or 24 the end result will !e the same#+ Then the normal vector n is: n = x 2 x1 , y 2 y 1 n% which we will call un# /e*t% "ind the unit vector o" n: This is done !y dividing !y the magnitude o" n n un = = 2 2 n n n
x y

unit tangent

unit normal

/e*t we need the unit tangent vector# This is easy to "ind "rom the unit normal vector# >ust ma,e the x com onent o" the unit tangent vector e.ual to the negative o" the y com onent o" the unit normal vector% and ma,e the y com onent o" the unit tangent vector e.ual to the x ut =un y , un x com onent o" the unit normal vector: 2# Create the initial )!e"ore the collision+ velocity vectors% v1 and v2# These are 2ust the x and y v 1= v 1* , v1y )and similarly "or v2 +# /ote com onents o" the velocities ut into vectors: that this ste really isn9t necessary i" the velocities are already re resented as vectors# This ste is needed only i" the velocities are initially re resented as se arate x and y values# 3# ?ee in mind that a"ter the collision the tangential com onent o" the velocities is unchanged and the normal com onent o" the velocities can !e "ound using the one-dimensional collision v1 and v2 % into normal "ormulas resented earlier# 0o we need to resolve the velocity vectors% and tangential com onents# To do this% ro2ect the velocity vectors onto the unit normal and unit tangent vectors !y com uting the dot roduct# Let v1n !e the scalar ) lain num!er% not a vector+ velocity o" o!2ect 1 in the normal direction# Let v1t !e the scalar velocity o" o!2ect 1 in the tangential direction# 0imilarly% let v2n and v2t !e "or o!2ect 2# These values are "ound !y

ro2ecting the velocity vectors onto the unit normal and unit tangent vectors% which is done !y ta,ing the dot roduct: v 1n= un v1 v 2n= un v2 v 1t = ut v1 v 2t= ut v2 @# =ind the new tangential velocities )a"ter the collision+# This is the sim lest ste o" all# The tangential com onents o" the velocity do not change a"ter the collision !ecause there is no "orce !etween the circles in the tangential direction during the collision# 0o% the new tangential velocities are sim ly e.ual to the old ones: v, v, 1t = v1t 2t = v 2t Aemem!er that the a ostro he a"ter the varia!le name means 5a"ter the collision#6 B# =ind the new normal velocities# This is where we use the one-dimensional collision "ormulas# The velocities o" the two circles along the normal direction are er endicular to the sur"aces o" the circles at the oint o" collision% so this really is a one-dimensional collision# v 1n m1m2 2 m2 v 2n v2n m2m1 2 m1 v 1n v, v, 1n = 2n = m1 m2 m1 m2 C# Convert the scalar normal and tangential velocities into vectors# This is easyD2ust multi ly the unit normal vector !y the scalar normal velocity and you get a vector which has a direction that is normal to the sur"aces at the oint o" collision and which has a magnitude e.ual to the normal com onent o" the velocity# $t is similar "or the tangential com onent# , , , , , , , , v 1n= v1n un v 1t =v 1t ut v 2n= v 2n un v 2t = v 2t ut <# =ind the "inal velocity vectors !y adding the normal and tangential com onents "or each o!2ect: , v v, v, 1= 1n 1t , v v, v, 2= 2n 2t

/ow we have the "inal )a"ter collision+ velocity o" each o!2ect as a vector# To see these "ormulas in action% chec, out: 'ouncesco e )htt :EEwww#vo!arian#comE!ouncesco eE+# This "ree rogram allows you to simulate lots o" !alls !ouncing around elastically# The mass% si8e% initial velocity% and color o" each !all can !e customi8ed% or you can add !atches o" randomly generated !alls# The source code is rovided# To chec, "or u dated versions o" this document% visit: htt :EEwww#vo!arian#comEcollisionsE Fo!arian 0o"tware home age: htt :EEwww#vo!arian#comE =eed!ac, and comments are welcome via the e-mail address listed on the Fo!arian 0o"tware we!site# G2009 Chad 'erche,