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Introduction
This experiment examines the energy and momentum of carts on an air track before and
after collisions. The air track is used to reduce friction to a very low value. Timers
measure the speeds of the carts. A mass balance measures the masses of the carts. You
should study the concepts of momentum, conservation of momentum, kinetic energy, and
elastic and non-elastic collisions for this lab.
You will do three experiments. The first will examine the residual effects of friction, the
second will look at an elastic collision, and the third an inelastic collision.
Apparatus
timer 1 timer 2
2 meter air track,
air track glider, glider 1 glider 2
photogate timer system,
mass balance.
The left picture shows a glider with its flag on the air track. The timer photogate is in the
U-shaped black “bridge” and the timer controls and readout are in the black box.
General Setup
1. First make sure the track is level. When it is level a cart will not accelerate in either
direction. There are leveling screws underneath one end of the track. This technique is
very sensitive. Can you detect if your track is not completely straight?
2. Attach a rubber bumper and a flag to each glider. The flag triggers the photogate. Get a
feel for the low friction environment by playing with the gliders and watching
collisions. Try out both the rubber bumpers and the pin/wax attachments that make
the carts stick together.
3. For experiments A and B you will measure the speed of the cart by measuring the
time interval for the flag on the cart to pass through the photogate. Measure the length
of the flag.
4. For each experiment you should play around with the positioning of the gliders before
taking data. Practice recording the time intervals as the carts pass through the timers.
5. You should record two good trials in each procedure. Tabulate your data. Note the
cart masses at the start of each experiment and tabulate the times for each individual
run. Leave columns where you can fill in the momentum and energy for each glider
before and after the collision and for total momentum and energy before and after the
collision. You may find the table needs a double page but it will allow you to compare
momenta and energies immediately.
Review the properties of elastic and inelastic collisions. Remember that all collisions
conserve momentum, and that elastic collisions are a special type that also conserve
energy, i.e. no energy is lost to deformation or changes in internal energy of the colliding
objects. Although this sounds unlikely to happen in everyday life (do people ever collide
elastically?) elastic collisions are very important for atomic and nuclear phenomena. (Do
air molecules collide elastically?)
Pre-lab Homework:
1. Do cars colliding at freeway speeds collide elastically or not? If not, what happens
to the energy lost? Car manufacturers now make 5 mph bumpers. What do you
think this means? Would it be possible to make 50 mph bumpers? If it could be
done would it be a good idea?
2. The mass m2 is initially at rest in the following.
a) For an elastic collision with m1 = m2, and m1 moving at speed vo, what is
the speed of each mass after the collision in terms of vo?
b) For an elastic collision with m1 = 3 m2, the final velocity, v2, was found to
be equal to 1.5 vo. Find the final velocity v1 in terms of vo.
c) For an elastic collision with m1 = m2/2, the final velocity, v1, was found to
be equal to -0.33vo. Find the final velocity, v2.
Pre-lab Homework
3. Home Experiments.
Hint: Remember that momentum, like velocity, is a vector.
a) Take a small bouncy ball and throw it at a solid wall. Catch it when it comes back to you.
What is its momentum before the bounce? What is its momentum after the bounce? How can
momentum be conserved here?
b) Take a small ball and a large ball (a tennis ball and a
basketball, or a ping-pong ball and a tennis ball) and drop them to
the floor together so that the small ball is just above the large ball
as they fall. Describe what happens when the small ball rebounds
off the large ball. Does this behavior violate Conservation of
Momentum? Why or why not? Explain qualitatively (and
quantitatively if you can) why the small ball bounces higher off the
large ball than if the floor when dropped alone. How would you
do a similar experiment with the air track and the gliders?
B3. Put glider #2 at rest between the photogates and push glider #1 gently from the end
of the track towards it. Measure the passage times for glider #1 before collision and
the two gliders after collision. Reset the timer before the start of each measurement.
B4. Do a few trial runs, watching each glider closely to be sure your data really
represents the speeds before and after the collision.
B5. After making preliminary trials, make two good measurements of the times. Calculate
speeds and momenta.
B6. Compare initial and final momenta and energies. What fraction of the energy is lost?
What fraction of energy would you expect to be lost? Is the momentum conserved?
What happened to the energy lost in the collision? Can it be recovered?
C1. Take two gliders with rubber bumpers. Add extra mass to one glider till it has about
double the mass of the other. Note the masses. Practice by putting the heavy glider
at rest at the center of the track and push the second towards it. What happens?
Compare your results to your homework question 2c.
C2. Place the photogates about 1 m apart on the level air track. Do not worry about being
exact, the separation distance between photogates does not alter the results.
C3. Place glider #2 in between the photogates and start the other glider from the end. Use
the timer in the gate mode with memory on. Reset the timer before the start of each
measurement.
C4. Do a few trial runs, watching each glider closely to be sure your data really
represents the speeds before and after the collision.
C5. After making preliminary trials, make two good measurements of the times. Calculate
speeds and momenta before and after the collision.
C6. Compare initial and final momenta and energies. Are your data good enough to be
able to tell if the gliders are perfectly elastic?