Question

Introduction: In this lab you will investigate the conservation of linear momentum: momentum before an event equals momentum after an event if there is an absence of a non-conservative forces such as friction. The event is this case is a collision between two air track gliders. Two types of collisions will be studied. One is an elastic collision which will not be studied in this lab. after the collision. The second is an inelastic collision where after two objects collide, they stick together traveling in the same direction at the same velocity. The inelastic collision will be studied in this lab. Momentum p = mv units of (kgm/s) Conservation of momentum for inelastic collision: mv. + m2V2 = v/(m + m2) Procedure: Inelastic Collision : Show all calculations for full credit! 1) Two photogates and timers are required. The first gate will determine the time for glider A before the collision while the second gate will determine the time for both glider A and glider B after the collision. With these times, velocities can be determined. Your instructor will demonstrate proper glider placement and procedure. 2) Hold glider B stationary and push glider A so that it has a reasonable velocity through the first photogate. After the collision, both gliders will travel through the second photogate. 3) Record the times and determine the velocities for the gliders. vel = dist/time 4) Repeat this procedure for trial 2. 5) Complete the data tables by calculating momentums before and after the collisions. According to the Conservation of Momentum, the momentum before the collision should equal the momentum after 6) Determine the percent difference, for each trail, between momentum before and momentum after.

Answer 1

For the given problem
We have time taken to pass through photogate 1, for initial velocity v1 of mass m1 , and time to pass through photogate 2, for final velocity vf og both masses m1 and m2
To calculate velocity, v1 = d/t1
vf = d/t2
d = 0.5 cm = thickness of photogate

the filled table is as under

Trial	t1	t2	v1	vf	Initial Momentum	Final Momentum	% diff
1	0.001471	0.002976	3.4	1.68	0.85	0.84	1.176471
2	0.0015	0.003	3.333333	1.6667	0.833333333	0.83335	-0.002
3	0.001	0.002041	5	2.45	1.25	1.225	2
4	0.00176	0.003333	2.840909	1.5	0.710227273	0.75	-5.6
5	0.0018	0.003571	2.777778	1.4	0.694444444	0.7	-0.8
6	0.002	0.004098	2.5	1.22	0.625	0.61	2.4
7	0.0026	0.005051	1.923077	0.99	0.480769231	0.495	-2.96
8	0.0022	0.004464	2.272727	1.12	0.568181818	0.56	1.44
9	0.0031	0.006199	1.612903	0.8066	0.403225806	0.4033	-0.0184

in the table, both the masses are equal, m1 = m2 = 0.25 kg