Collisions Lab

BIG Questions:

What is the difference between the amount of energy lost in an Elastic Collision v. Inelastic Collision?
What is a better conserved quantity-- momentum or energy?


Pre-Lab:

• scalar - simply values, no direction involved
• vector - magnitude and direction
• Moving to the right or upwards - positive
• Moving to the left or downwards- negative

Types of Collisions:

Elastic

Inelastic 

Explosion

Using two carts, two rangefinders, and a track, my group was able to record some data. We did two different experiments, inelastic and elastic. For the inelastic collision, we pushed the two carts together and they stuck together because of the velcro. For the elastic collision, we pushed the red car with the spring in front and the blue cart with the spring and front together. With this data, we were able to determine that momentum is better conserved than energy because there is a plethora of factors that energy can be lost to.

We found the percent differences in the energy and momentum to determine that momentum is best conserved. We also derived the equation, P=MV where P is momentum, M is mass, and V is velocity.

Real World Connection: 

On 9/14/11, the 39 year old catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Jason Varitek, had one of the most memorable collisions in baseball history. When the runner, Brett Lowrie collided with Varitek, the two players created an elastic collision. This sports science video explains the collision very well.