Which statement characterizes a perfectly elastic collision?

In a perfectly elastic collision, both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. This means that the total momentum of the system (the combined momentum of all objects involved in the collision) before the collision is equal to the total momentum of the system after the collision. Similarly, the total kinetic energy (the energy of motion) of the objects before the collision remains equal to that after the collision.

This principle applies in ideal conditions where there are no losses due to heat, sound, or deformation of the objects involved. Common examples of perfectly elastic collisions are found in atomic and subatomic particle interactions, rather than macroscopic objects, since most real-world collisions experience some degree of inelasticity. Therefore, the correct characterization of a perfectly elastic collision is that both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved throughout the interaction.