Name:

Physics 111-91
April 23, 2020

Lab #10 Momentum, Energy & Collisions

Objectives:

 Observe collisions between two carts, testing for the conservation of momentum.
 Measure energy changes during different types of collisions.
 Classify collisions as elastic, inelastic, or completely inelastic.

Preliminary Questions:

1.) Consider a head-on collision between two identical billiard balls. Ball 1 is initially in motion toward
ball 2, which is initially at rest. After the collision, ball 2 departs with the same velocity that ball 1
originally had. Disregard any friction between the balls and the surface. What happens to ball 1? What
happens to ball 2?

Ball 1 most likely stopped since it transferred most/all of its kinetic energy to ball 2. Ball 2 would then
move in whatever direction depending on how ball 1 hit it initially, with the same velocity as ball 1.

2.) Sketch a position vs. time graph for each ball in Preliminary Question 1, starting with the time before
the collision starts and ending a short time after the collision.

3.) Based on your graph from Preliminary Question 2, is momentum conserved in this collision? Is kinetic
energy conserved?

Momentum is conserved because the ball transfers its kinetic energy to the second ball, which then moves
at the same velocity indicating a conservation of momentum and kinetic energy.

Method: After measuring the masses of the Dynamic Carts and recording the values in Table 1, the
carts were labeled Cart 1 and Cart 2. The Dynamics Track was set up, and using a level, adjusted to be
horizontal. A motion detector, with the sensitivity set to Track, was placed at each end of the track, and
connected to the digital ports of the Vernier interface. The file “18 Momentum Energy Coll” was opened in
the Logger Pro software. The motion detectors are “zeroed” so that the same coordinate system is being
measured with both motion sensors.

In each of the three parts, the two carts were set up so that Cart 2 would be placed in the middle of the
track, and Cart 1 would be given a gentle push so that it would bump into Cart 1.
 In Part I, both carts have opposing magnets facing each other. The carts repel each other before
they collide.
 In Part II, the two carts have “hook-and-pile”, or Velcro bumpers facing each other, so that they
stick together after colliding.
 In Part III, one cart has magnet bumpers, and the other car has Velcro bumpers, so that they do not
repel each other, nor stick together.

For each section, data was selected from the velocity graphs, and the average velocity before and after the
collision was recorded in the Table

Data Tables and Graphs:

Figure 1 a Magnet Bumpers Position & Velocity Plots Trial

Figure 1 b Magnet Bumpers Position & Velocity Plots Trial 2
Figure 2a Hook & Pile Bumpers Position & Velocity Plots – Trial 3
 Figure 2a Hook & Pile Bumpers Position & Velocity Plots – Trial 4

Figure 3a Combined Hook/Pile & Magnet Velocity and Position Plots – Trial 5
Figure 3b Combined Hook/Pile & Magnet Velocity and Position Plots – Trial 6

Table 1

Mass of Cart 1 0.575 kg Mass of Cart 2 0.579 kg

Table 2
 Cart 1 Cart 2 Cart 1 Cart Cart Total Ratio of
Velocit Velocit Cart 1 Cart 2 Mom Cart 2 1 2 Mom Total Tot Mom
Tria y y Velocit Velocit Befor Mom Mom Mom Befor Mom Aft/Befor
  l Before Before y After y After e Before After After e After e
0.00 0.09 0.09
1 0.159 0 0 0.164 0.091 0 0 5 0.091 5 1.039
-
Magne 0.00 0.11 0.11
t 2 0.232 0 -0.005 0.205 0.133 0 3 9 0.133 6 0.868
0.08 0.08 0.16
Hook 3 0.308 0 0.142 0.143 0.177 0 2 3 0.177 4 0.929
and 0.00057 0.06 0.06 0.12
Pile 4 0.2346 0.001 0.1096 0.1107 0.135 9 3 4 0.135 7 0.938
0.03 0.16 0.19
5 0.351 0 0.0566 0.2786 0.202 0 3 1 0.202 4 0.961
0.00 0.04 0.05
Both 6 0.1249 0 0.0131 0.0836 0.072 0 8 8 0.072 6 0.779

Cart 1 Cart 2 Cart 1 Cart 2 Cart Cart Cart Total Tota Ratio of
Cart 1
Tri Veloci Veloci Veloci Veloci 2 KE 1 KE 2 KE KE l KE Tot KE
  KE
al ty ty ty ty Befor Afte Afte Befor Afte Aft/Befo
Before
Before Before After After e r r e r re
0.0073 0.00 0.00
1 0.159 0 0 0.164 0 0 0.007 1.057
Magn 19 8 8
et 0.0155 7E- 0.01 0.01
2 0.232 0 -0.005 0.205 0 0.016 0.776
82 06 2 2
0.142 0.0274 0.00 0.00 0.01
Hook 3 0.308 0 0.143 0 0.027 0.428
4 63 6 6 2
and
0.234 0.109 0.110 0.0159 3E- 0.00 0.00 0.00
Pile 4 0.001 0.016 0.439
6 6 7 33 07 3 4 7
0.056 0.278 0.0356 9E- 0.02 0.02
5 0.351 0 0 0.036 0.652
6 6 67 04 2 3
Both
0.124 0.013 0.083 0.0045 5E- 0.00 0.00
6 0 0 0.005 0.456
9 1 6 16 05 2 2

Table 3
Data Analysis:

1) For each run, determine the momentum (mv) of each cart before the collision, after the collision,
and the total momentum before and after the collision. Calculate the ration of the total momentum after
the collision to the total momentum before the collision. Enter the information in Table 2. (Use the
appropriate mass for each cart listed in Table 1, and the appropriate average velocities listed in Table 2.)

Refer to table.

2) For each run, determine the kinetic energy (KE = ½ m v2 ) for each cart before and after the
collision, and record the data in Table 3. Calculate the ratio of the total kinetic energy after the collision to
the total kinetic energy before the collision. Record the data in Table 3.

Refer to table

3) If the total momentum for a system is the same before and after the collision, we say that
momentum is conserved. If the momentum were conserved, what would be the ratio of the total
momentum after the collision to the total momentum before the collision?

If momentum was perfectly conserved, then the ratio of momentum before and after would be 1:1.

4) If the total kinetic energy for a system is the same before and after the collision, we say that kinetic
energy is conserved. If the kinetic energy were conserved, what would be the ratio of the total kinetic
energy after the collision to the total kinetic energy before the collision?

The ratio would be 1:1.

5) Inspect the momentum ratios in Table 2. Even if momentum is conserved for a given collision, the
measured values may not be exactly the same before and after due to measurement uncertainty. The ratio
should be close to one, however. Is momentum conserved in your collisions?

There is one outlier from trial 6, but overall, the ratios are really close to 1, meaning that momentum is
conserved.
6) Repeat the questions from 5) for the case of kinetic energy, using the kinetic energy ratios in Table
3. Is kinetic energy conserved in the magnetic bumper collisions? How about the hook-and-pile
collisions? Is kinetic energy consumed in the third type of collision studies? Classify the three collision
types as elastic, inelastic, or completely inelastic.

For the magnet collision, kinetic energy is conserved, meaning that it is an elastic collision. For the hook
and pile collisions, some kinetic energy is lost, meaning that it is an inelastic collision, due to the fact that
some energy is lost in the form of heat energy. For both, about 40% of the kinetic energy was conserved,
so it can’t be a complete inelastic collision since maximum kinetic energy isn’t lost, but it is still an inelastic
collision since kinetic energy isn’t conserved.

Conclusions:

This lab showcased the Law of Conservation of momentum, the change of energy during collisions,
and the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions.

This lab had proved the fact that momentum is always conserved, even though some kinetic energy
is lost. This is because of Newton’s third law, where in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on
the two interacting objects. These forces cannot be anything but equal and opposite at each instant during
their interaction. Momentum is an impulse that must change equally amongst the two objects. If the
momentum of one object increases then the momentum of the other must decrease by the same
magnitude. Thus, momentum is always conserved.

On the other hand energy has no compulsion like increasing and decreasing by same amounts for
the colliding bodies. Energy is always conserved, but can be converted into other forms such as heat, and
therefore sometimes cannot be transferred the same way momentum is within a system.

This lab shows that within an elastic collision, there is little or no loss in kinetic energy since it does
not lose energy to heat. This is not the case in inelastic collisions because of deformation and the
conversion of kinetic energy into heat.

This lab does not show a case where there is a completely inelastic collision as it does not a case
where the maximum amount of kinetic energy is lost, as there is no collision where the two object are
completely deformed, indicating a maximum energy conversion to heat.