Answer:
less in magnitude and opposite in direction to their original velocities
Explanation:
The nature of collisions can be determined by the coefficient of restitution.
Coefficient of restitution is given by
[tex]e=\dfrac{\text{Kinetic energy after collision}}{\text{Kinetic energy before collision}}[/tex]
In the case described here the value of [tex]e[/tex] is in between 0 and 1.
This means that the kinetic energy after collision is less than the kinetic energy before collision.
If the kinetic energy after collision is less this means that the velocity is not balanced with the velocity before the collision however the direction of the masses are opposite Some amount of energy is dissipated as heat or through other forms of energy.
So, just after the collision, their velocities are less in magnitude and opposite in direction to their original velocities.
