Name:
Date:
Course: Physical Science B
Teacher: Mrs. Solomon
U1L7 Virtual Momentum Lab
Complete the shaded areas in each section.
Scoring for each section is at the very bottom of this worksheet.
Getting Started: Look over the material on pages 374-377 of your test. Then, open the lesson
titled "Virtual Momentum Lab" and use the link Virtual Momentum Lab (on
page 3 of 5 in the lessons).
Click on "Go to Lab" on the left of the "What You Need to Know" screen. Select "Simulation"
and "Proceed". Then select "Perfectly elastic collision" and click "Proceed" once more.
Section 1:
Elastic Collision (e=1)
Note: You MUST include units ("kg" or "m/s") on all numeric values
(2 pts)
Record the masses (with units) you chose below: (You pick!)
Ball A (m1):
50kg
Ball B (m2):
30kg
Click "Start Experiment" and then "Proceed" to get to the experiment table. Then, follow the
"Procedure" on the left side to complete the experiment.
Record your chosen initial velocities (with units) below: (You pick!)
Ball A (u1):
50
Ball B (u2):
-50
Record the final velocities (with units) of the balls after the collision:
Ball A (v1):
-25
Ball B (v2):
75
1. (2 pts) Replay the experiment and explain what happened to each ball AND why you think it
happened:
The bigger ball was not as quick as the smaller ball. When the two collided the smaller ball took
a harder hit and moved farther away.
2. (2 pts). Look at the momentum graph (upper right tab). What do you notice about the total
momentum before and after the collision? Which of Newton's laws does this demonstrate?
The momentum decreased for the bigger ball ,but stayed constant for the little ball.
3. (2 pt) If you set the mass of Ball A to twice that of Ball B and set their initial velocities equal,
what do you think would happen to the velocity of each ball after the collision?

Create a hypothesis. IF……..THEN……… (you will test it in the next section).


Independent variable: The IF. What did you change on purpose?
Dependent variable: The THEN. What did you measure as the outcome?
If we set one ball to be double the mass of the other then the bigger ball will have less velocity
than the smaller ball, and the smaller ball will have more velocity.
Section 2:
(2 pts)
Click on the “Reset experiment” to test your hypothesis (#3). Record the results below:
Record the masses (with units) you chose: (Ball A should have twice the mass of B!)
Ball A (m1):
12kg
Ball B (m2):
6kg
Record the initial velocities (with units) you chose: (They should have EQUAL +/- velocities)
Ball A (u1):
50
Ball B (u2):
-50
Record the final velocities (with units) of the balls after the collision visible below the graph:
Ball A (v1):
-16.6
Ball B (v2):
83.3
4. (1 pt) Was your hypothesis in #3 correct? Why/why not?
Yes my hypothesis was correct. The larger ball took less of a hit then the smaller ball.
5. (1 pt) If you set the initial velocity of Ball A to approximately twice that of Ball B and set their
masses equal, what do you think would happen to the velocity of each ball after the collision?



Create a hypothesis. IF……..THEN……… (you will test it in the next section).
Independent variable: The IF. What did you change on purpose?
Dependent variable: The THEN. What did you measure as the outcome?
If the velocity was doubled Ball A had its velocity doubled then ball b would shoot out farther
than ball A because ball B is the one taking the force.
Section 3:
(2 pts)
Click on the “Reset experiment” button and test your hypothesis (#5).
Record the masses (with units) you chose: (They should have equal masses!)
Ball A (m1):
50kg
Ball B (m2):
50kg
Record the initial velocities (with units) you chose: (U1 should be twice that of U2!)
Ball A (u1):
40
Ball B (u2):
20
Record the final velocities (with units) of the balls after the collision:
Ball A (v1):
20
Ball B (v2):
40
6. (1 pt) Was your hypothesis in #5 correct? Why/why not?
My hypothesis was incorrect. The energy was actually switched and transferred in the collision.
Section 4:
Inelastic Collision (e=0)
Now we will test an inelastic collision, which is like colliding two giant wads of gum. Click on
"Reset Experiment". Then select "Reset all values". Finally, select "Perfectly inelastic collision"
and proceed again as you did in your previous experiments.
(2 pt) Record the masses (with units) you selected: (You pick!)
Ball A (m1):
50kg
Ball B (m2):
50kg
Record the initial velocities (with units) you selected: (Your choice!)
Ball A (u1):
50
Ball B (u2):
-50
Record the final velocities (with units) of the balls after the collision:
Ball A (v1):
0
Ball B (v2):
0
7. (1 pts) Explain in detail what happened in this perfectly inelastic collision:
In this perfect inelastic collision the two balls collided and seemed to absorb the force, and did
not move.
Final Analysis
In real life, unlike virtual labs, collisions are NEITHER purely elastic or purely inelastic, but
instead fall somewhere in between. However, many collisions can still be classified as primarily
elastic or inelastic. For example, hitting a baseball is a great example of an elastic collision,
whereas catching the baseball is a nice example of an inelastic collision.
8. (2 pts) Explain why hitting/catching a baseball are great examples of each type of collision.
Catching a baseball the baseball does not move when it collides with the glove just like the balls
did. Hitting a ball is more like elastic because it causes the ball to move away.
9. (2 pts) Finally, describe/explain another real world example for each type of collision:
Real World Elastic Collision:
Pogo stick
A pogo stick is an example of a Elastic Collision this because the pogo stick bounces off the
ground after a collision.
Real World Inelastic Collision:
High Fives
Are en example of inelastic Collision because when you high five your hand doesn’t bounce. It
absorbs the energy.
Scoring Rubric (guidelines)
Points possible
Points earned
Masses and experiment completed, units of measure included
2
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
2
2
2
1, You did not use
units of
measurement
2
2
2
Section 1:
Section 2:
2nd experiment completed, units of measure included
2
Question 4
Question 5
1
1
1, You did not use
units of
measurement
1
1
Section 3:
3rd experiment completed, units of measure included
2
Question 6
1
1, You did not use
units of
measurement
1
Section 4:
4th experiment completed, units of measure included
2
Question 7
1
1, You did not use
units of
measurement
1
Final Analysis
Question 8
2
Question 9
2
1, Your answer
needs to be more
well thought out
and detailed
1, Your answer
needs to be more
well thought out
and detailed
Total possible 20 points
With extra credit 22 point
22
16