Swords, impacts and elasticity for a noob So I'm a game developer and I'm trying to understand some (extremely) basic facts of impact mechanics.  I had read something entitled Dynamics of Hand-Held Impact Weapons, but it was a bit too complicated for my feeble mind, and really more than I needed to understand for a game.
I'm assuming as average a hit as possible, envisioning the problem as little more than a flat block hitting another flat block; bludgeoning at first, and cutting later after I understand that.
From what I understand, elasticity is a range from 0.0 to 1.0, yes?  Assuming the sword (basic flat block for now) has zero elasticity for simple gameplay purposes, how does elasticity affect the Time variable for acceleration?  And what force is it that causes the target (a variably squishy flat block) to resist further deformation and retake its shape?
If it sounds like I'm just misguided, guidance in what I ought to know would be fine too.  Thanks!
 A: From the comments we exchanged above I think I now understand your question.
I think the parameter in your software is actually what's called the Coefficient of restitution. Its value will alter how your model sword and target behave when they collide. 
If it equals 1, the collision is perfectly elastic - the total momentum and the total kinetic energy is conserved (that is the same before and after the collision.) Sword and target bounce off each other and move off with different velocities. 
If it equals 0, the collision is perfectly inelastic - the total momentum is conserved, but the maximum kinetic energy is lost from the system. Sword and target stick and move off together with the same velocity.
If it is between 0 and 1 you get an intermediate effect, which is what makes it a useful parameter for model simulations.  
Partially inelastic collisions are the most common type of collisions in the real world. For example, the height of a bouncing ball decreases with successive bounces because the coefficient of restitution is less than 1 and the system loses energy. 
