Department of Applied Physics
LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IN
PHYSICS (1)
Conservation of Linear
Momentum – ONLINE
Name:………………………………………...…..........
.....................................
ID:
…………………………………………….....................
............................




Objectives:
rgy of 2 balls.
Apparatus:
Two balls: Two balls is used for the conservation of linear momentum
Frictionless surface: Frictionless surface is used for the balls to slide in a straight line.
Timers: Timers is used for measuring the time taken by the balls to slide on the frictionless
surface.
Procedure:
Part 1 (Elastic collision)
Steps:







Select elasticity 100% by dragging the blue triangle to the right.
Keep masses m1 and m2 = 1.00 kg.
Keep ‘position1’ 0.00 m and ‘position2’ 1.00 m.
Keep speed v1 = 5.00 m/s and speed v2 = 1.00 m/s.
Click on Play and once they collided click on Pause and read the values of v1f and v2f.
Complete Table i with the recorded values
Repeat the experiment using two different values of v1 and record the results in Table i.
Table i
V1i
V2i
V1f
V2f
Pi =
Pf =
(m/s)
(m/s)
(m/s)
(m/s)
m1v1i
m2v2f
(kg.m/s) (kg.m/s)
4.00
0
4.50
0
5.00
0
Pf/Pi
Ki =
0.5m1v1i2 0.5m2v2f2
(J)
Part 2 (Inelastic collision)
Steps:



Kf=
Select elasticity 0% by dragging the blue triangle all the way to the left.
Choose m1 = 7.00 kg and m2 = 5.00 kg.
Do not change the position values.
(J)
Kf/Ki




Select v1 = 4.00 m/s and v2 = 1.00 m/s.
Click on Play and once they collided click on Pause and read the value of vf.
Complete Table j with recorded values
Repeat the experiments using three different values of v1 and record results in Table j.
Table j
V1i
V2i
(m/s)
Vf
Pi =
Pf =
(m/s)
m1v1i
Pf =
Pf/Pi
Ki =
Kf =
0.5m1v1i2
0.5(m1+
m2)vf2
(J)
(kg.m/s)
3.00
0
3.50
0
4.00
0
(kg.m/s)
Kf/Ki
(J)
Questions and answers:
1. Does relative velocity of separation in one dimensional elastic collision change?
(a) Yes
(b) No
2. Is linear momentum of a system always conserved?
(a) Yes
(b) No
3. Is it possible to have a collision in which the whole of Kinetic energy is lost?
(a) Yes
(b) No
4. Conclusion
....................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................