11/11/12
Mr. Torch
Lebron James – partner
Steve Nash – partner

Chapter 8 – Collision Course Lab Report

Objective: The purpose of this lab is to confirm the law of conservation of momentum and to determine the initial speed of a lab cart involved in an inelastic collision.

Procedure: This lab was carried out in two parts, one for each objective described above.

Part 1 – Conservation of Momentum

Two lab carts were placed next to one another and a collision was simulated. Cart 1 was the cart providing the force for the collision separation and it had a 1.0 kg mass placed on top of it. Cart 2 had a 0.5 kg mass placed on top of it. Cart 1’s trigger was released setting each cart into motion. Distance and time of each cart was measured and recorded.

Part 2 – Inelastic Collision

For this collision, Cart 1 (1.0 kg mass on top) was rolled into Cart 2 (0.5 kg mass on top). When the car’s collided they stuck together creating an inelastic collision. Time and distance for the two cart system was measured and recorded.

Data:

Conservation of Momentum – Part 1 Data

m1 / m2
∆x1 / ∆x2
∆t1 / ∆t2
Vi / Vi
P1 / P2

Inelastic Collision – Part 2 Data

m1 / v
m2 / Vi
∆x / V1
∆t / ------

Calculations:

Conservation of Momentum – Part 1

Cart 1: show all calcs here for V, Vi, Pi

Cart 2: show all calcs here for V, Vi, Pi

Inelastic Collision – Part 2

Cart 1 & 2 System: show all calcs here

Analysis:

During this lab some observations and trends were noticed. For part 1, Cart 2 traveled faster and for a longer distance. This was the cart with the smaller total mass. All collisions for part 1 verified this observation. For part 2, the cart system traveled slower after the collision took place causing the cars to stick together. It is important to note that these observations and trends discussed are pointing to a conclusion of momentum being conserved, which is one of the objectives of this lab.
NOTE: IF THERE WERE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ASKED IN THE LAB….THIS IS ALSO WHERE YOU SHOULD DISCUSS AND ANSWER THEM. DO NOT NUMBER AND LIST YOUR QUESTIONS, SIMPLY DISCUSS THE ANSWERS AS THEY RELATE TO THE LAB AND YOUR ANALYSIS. MAKE SURE YOUR LANGUAGE FLOWS!

Conclusions:

From the data collected and calculations performed, the momentum was proven to be conserved for part 1 of this lab. Momentum of the system before the collision was 0 kg-m/s because both cars were at rest. From the Law of Conservation of Momentum the momentum after the collision should also be 0 kg-m/s. Calculations showed that cart 1’s momentum cancelled out cart 2’s momentum, giving a value of 0.1 kg-m/sclose to 0 kg-m/s. This value was not exact most likely due to human errors. Timing the carts was difficult and this could have slightly affected the final values calculated.

There were no concerns in finding the initial velocity of the two cart system for the inelastic collision (part 2) of this lab. Data was collected and analyzed effectively to find an initial velocity for the system of 2.3 m/s. Again, this velocity could have varied slightly due to imperfect timing.