Final answer:
The egg's velocity decreases upon hitting the wall, which describes an inelastic collision where kinetic energy is not conserved. This depicts a real-world scenario contrasting with the ideal elastic collisions where kinetic energy and momentum are conserved.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer to the original question posed by the student about Roland throwing the egg is B: The egg experiences a decrease in velocity upon hitting the wall. When the egg hits the wall, since the wall is immovable and rigid, the egg will stop moving and break, which clearly indicates the egg's velocity decreases to zero. This is a classic example of an inelastic collision where the egg's kinetic energy is not conserved, as energy is dissipated in breaking the egg.
In a broader context, in an elastic collision, objects bounce off each other with no loss in the total kinetic energy of the system. However, in real-world inelastic collisions, such as with the egg or a billiard ball hitting a bumper, kinetic energy is converted to other forms of energy, and thus kinetic energy decreases.
When momentum and energy are conserved, the total momentum of a closed system remains constant. For example, in the billiard ball problem, the average force exerted during the collision and the kinetic energy lost can be calculated based on the change in velocity and the duration of the collision.