Lab 5: OneDimensional Collisions
University of Michigan
Physics Department
Mechanics and Sound Intro Labs
You are now about to undertake the study of collisions. This study
consists of two labs; however, in order to better understand collisions
in two dimensions, you will begin a study of rotational motion in Lab 6
before continuing the study of collisions in lab seven. You have
experienced some form of collision at some point in your life, whether
you bumped into someone in the hallway or used the collisions to your
advantage in a game of billiards. You will now study such collisions
from a physics perspective.
Today’s lab makes use of the air track that you used in Lab 2. You will
notice, however, that this time there are sonic rangers on both ends of
the track instead of just one. This is because you will be studying the
motion of two carts. To figure out which motion sensor plots which
color graph on your LoggerPro® file, you can hit the ‘collect’ button
and move one air track cart at a time. This allows you to identify
which sensor is detecting which cart.
You will also notice that your air track carts have two different kinds of
bumpers, one on each side. The Velcro® bumpers, when pointed at
each other, will cause the carts to stick in an inelastic collision. The
metal bumpers simulate an elastic collision.
You will also be asked to adjust the mass of the carts during this lab.
This may be accomplished by placing slotted masses on the bolts on
the side of the cart and locking them in place with the nuts provided.
You can then carry on your analysis as usual.
Velcro
bumper
Metal
Bumper
At the conclusion of this lab, you will have a better understanding of
what physicists mean when they say that momentum is conserved and
that total mechanical energy is conserved. These concepts will no
doubt be helpful in your continued study of physics, and you will see
them again in Lab 7 when you return to look at two-dimensional
collisions. But in the mean time, you should get ready to begin
studying rotational motion.