Momentum, final velocities, and kinetic energy

Name

Professor

Course name & number

June 20, 2022

Introduction

Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity while momentum is a vector quantity. The equation for

momentum is p=mv, where p is momentum, m is mass while v is velocity. Kinetic energy is

directly proportional to the square of velocity and mass of the object. Both momentum and

kinetic energy are related to the mass and velocity of an object (Sawadthaisong et al., 2021). In

elastic collisions, no energy is lost to deformation, heat or sound. When no external forces act on

an object, momentum is conserved. In inelastic collisions, energy is lost to heat or deformation.

The purpose of this lab is to examine how kinetic energy and momentum changes in elastic

collisions.

Experiment

The lab was conducted by connecting to the PhET website and selecting the collision lab. The

intro section of the collision lab was used to conduct the experiment. Several boxes in the

introduction section were ticked such as values, kinetic energy and velocity. The elasticity scale

had already been moved to 100 percent. The more data box was clicked to show data such as

position, velocity and momentum. The pink ball mass was adjusted to 2 kg while the blue ball

mass was adjusted to 3 kg. The blue ball position was adjusted to -1 while the pink ball position

was adjusted to +1. The initial velocity for the blue ball and the pink ball were adjusted to +3 m/s

and -1.5m/s respectively.

Before collision:
After collision:
Results

The relevant experimental values were:

Mass and velocity before and after collision:

BEFORE COLLISSION AFTER COLLISION

Mass Mass (pink Velocity Velocity Velocity Velocity

(Blue) (blue) (pink) (blue) (pink)

3 kg 2 kg 3 m/s -1.5 m/s -0.6 m/s 3.9 m/s

The momentum of the two objects before and after collision were:

BEFORE COLLISSION AFTER COLLISION

Mass Mass (pink Momentu Momentum Momentum Momentum

(Blue) m (blue) (pink) (blue) (pink)

3 kg 2 kg 9 kg. m/s -3 kg. m/s -1.8 kg m/s 7.8 kg m/s

m/s

The calculated values were:

1. Initial values of kinetic energy

a. For the blue ball

 1
KE= M v 2
2

1
¿ ×3 kg × ¿
2

2
m
¿ 13.5 kg
s2

b. For the pink ball

1 2
KE= M v
2

1
¿ ×2 kg × ¿
2

m2
¿ 2.25 kg
s2

2. Final values of kinetic energy

a. For the blue ball

1 2
KE= M v
2
 1
¿ ×3 kg × ¿
2

m2
¿ 0.54 kg 2
s

b. For the pink ball

1 2
KE= M v
2

1
¿ ×2 kg × ¿
2

2
m
¿ 15.21 kg 2
s

Total initial kinetic energy:

2 2 2
m m m
13.5 kg 2
+2.25 kg 2 =15.75 kg 2
s s s

Total initial kinetic energy:

m2 m2 m2
0.54 kg + 15.21kg =15.75 kg
s2 s2 s2

Calculations of momentum

a. Before collision:
 Blue ball

P=mv

m
¿ 3 kg ×3
s

m
¿ 9 kg
s

For the pink ball

P=mv

m
¿ 2 kg ×−1 .5
s

m
¿−3 kg
s

b. After collision

For the blue ball

P=mv

m
¿ 3 kg ×−0. 6
s

m
¿−1.8 kg
s
For the pink ball

P=mv

m
¿ 2 kg ×3.9
s

m
¿ 7.8 kg
s

m
Momentum before collision= 6 kg
s

m
Momentum after collision=6 kg
s

Final velocity values:

For the blue ball:

p
v=
m

1.8
¿
3

¿−0.6 m/s

Final velocity for pink ball:

p
v=
m

7.8
¿
2

¿ 3.90 m/s
The momentum before collision was equal to the momentum after collision. The kinetic energy

before collision was also equal to the kinetic energy after collision.

Discussion

There were no differences between the experimental and theoretical values. After calculating the

total initial and final kinetic energies, it was found out that the values were equal. The initial

kinetic energy was equal to the final kinetic energy. The initial momentum of both balls was also

equal to the final momentum. The error in this experiment was that energy losses were not

considered. There would be energy losses through various forms in a real-life scenario.

Conclusion.

In elastic collisions, the initial kinetic energy and momentum of objects is the same as the final

kinetic energy and momentum of the objects. Elastic collisions assume that no energy is lost

when objects collide. If there were energy losses, the final kinetic energy would not have been

equal to the initial kinetic energy. The experiment showed that there was conservation of both

kinetic energy and momentum.

REFERENCES

Sawadthaisong, N., Chitaree, R., & Barufaldi, J. P. (2021). Demonstration of momentum and

kinetic energy during an entire collision. The Physics Teacher, 49(1), 56-57.