Kaplan Nursing Entrance Practice Exam 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The outcome of elastic collisions between gas particles is that kinetic energy is conserved. In an elastic collision, when gas particles collide, they do so in such a way that the total kinetic energy of the system remains unchanged before and after the collisions. This is a fundamental characteristic of elastic collisions, which can be explained by the principles of kinetic molecular theory.

In the context of gas particles, this means that they can collide without losing any energy to deformation or heat, which is consistent with the behavior of ideal gases. Each particle moves freely and collides with others, transferring energy among them but maintaining the total energy of the system.

The other options involve energy transformations or losses, which do not apply to elastic collisions. Inelastic collisions, for example, would involve a loss of kinetic energy to other forms of energy, like heat or deformation. However, in the case of elastic collisions, the system’s total kinetic energy is conserved throughout the process.