Question

Can someone help explain why hitting/catching a baseball are examples of elastic/inelastic collisions?

Answer 1

These are all examples of inelastic collisions.
Inelastic collisions are collisions in which energy (kinetic) is lost. All contact collisions are inelastic.

Answer 2

Elastic collision is a collision where the colliding objects bounce back without undergoing any deformation or heat generation. Inelastic collision is a collision where the colliding objects are distorted and heat is generated.

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