Is the total momentum always conserved between any two objects involved in a collision?
1 Answer
Generally speaking, Yes.
The caveat is that there must be no external forces acting (aka the collision takes place in a closed system).
These collisions are subdivided into elastic and inelastic collisions. For both total momentum and total energy (but not kinetic energy) are always conserved.
During elastic collisions total kinetic energy is conserved.
During inelastic collisions total kinetic energy is not conserved.
