Everything can bounce to some degree ( even if it is undetectable with our eyesight ) because no collisions in the real world are completely inelastic.
There is a sliding scale of elasticity of collisions, from 0 to 1. This is called the co-efficient of restitution, e. If e=0 then the collision is completely inelastic and the 2 colliding bodies coalesce. In the case of something hitting the floor, the floor is not moving so if e=0, the object would stop and not bounce ( or the highly unlikely opposite, the floor rises up with the object ).
There is a sliding scale of elasticity of collisions, from 0 to 1. This is called the co-efficient of restitution, e. If e=0 then the collision is completely inelastic and the 2 colliding bodies coalesce. In the case of something hitting the floor, the floor is not moving so if e=0, the object would stop and not bounce ( or the highly unlikely opposite, the floor rises up with the object ).
