Collisions Lab

In class: 

This week in the collisions lab we were given two carts (one red and one blue), a computer, a track and two motion sensors that were connected to a labquest. We put the two carts on the track and sent them towards each other in two different types of collisions, one elastic and one inelastic. The sensors would send out sonar waves to the carts, and would be able to tell how far away the cart was from the senor at any given second. In the elastic collision, both of the springs on the carts were facing each other, in the inelastic collision, we have the velcro sides of the carts collide with one another.

Data:

MOMENTUM IS CONSERVED

P(total before)= P(total) after

m + v x m x v = m + v x m+ v

The two right columns on the data table explain to us what this equation above really means. As you can see, the amount of momentum decreases, meaning it is conserved.

Connection to the Real World

Any collision from the real world can be applied to this, one that comes to mind is bowling and more specifically when the bowling ball strikes the pins. The collision between the ball and the pins is inelastic. When the two hit one another, the momentum is conserved. This is exactly the same as the inelastic collision we tested during class.