Title: elastic collision
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - elastic collision
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.E01915
Status: current

Definition
A particle (atom or molecule) can undergo a change in its state of excitation as a result of collisions with other particles. In an elastic collision an exchange only of kinetic energy takes place between the colliding species; in an inelastic collision there is an interchange between the kinetic energy and the internal energy of the particle.

Related Terms
- internal energy: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03103
- kinetic energy: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/K03402

Source
- PAC, 1996, 68, 149. 'A glossary of terms used in chemical kinetics, including reaction dynamics (IUPAC Recommendations 1996)' on page 159 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199668010149)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E01915/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E01915/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E01915/xml

Citation: Citation: 'elastic collision' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.E01915
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Accessed: 2026-04-21T00:54:50+00:00