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Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT

Lab #PhyI-04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

Lab # PhyI-04: Energy and Linear Momentum
Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
(Knight, Ch.9: 9.1, 9.3, 9.4; Ch.10: 10.2, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6)
Introduction
There are a number of Conservation Laws in Natural Science, such as of Mass, Energy, Electric Charge,
Lepton Numbers, etc. Most of in our common life, we face situations where the conservation of mass,
energy or momentum is demonstrated: i.e. during cooking, collisions, pendulum or quartz clock operation,
and so on. In this lab, you will observe Linear Momentum and Energy Conservation in one-dimensional
(along a single axis) collisions.
In an isolated mechanical system, the linear momentum and the energy of each interacting body may vary,
but the total linear momentum, P
r
, and the total energy, E , do not change:
0 =
dt
P d
r
or const P =
r
and 0 =
dt
dE
or E=const (1)
There are two different types of collisions: elastic and inelastic. To understand the difference between them,
it is necessary to consider a two-body impact as a deformation process, where the kinetic energy of the
bodies transforms into other forms of energy generally, deformation, heat and sound. According to
material elasticity science, the potential energy of deformation can be transformed wholly or partially back
to a kinetic one. The remaining energy of deformation, as well as the energy conversion into heat and sound
can be regarded as a loss of kinetic energy. Loss-free collisions, where the energy losses during the colliding
process are small such that the total kinetic energy remains almost invariable, are called elastic. Inelastic
collisions occur when the losses of kinetic energy are not negligible. It is important to remember that in an
isolated system, the total energy incorporating all energy types is a constant.
One important feature of this experiment is the use of a rotary motion sensor to measure an objects linear
velocity instead of the standard motion sensor or photogate. One of the aims of this lab is to demonstrate to
you that it is possible to obtain a physical quantity (in our case it is the object linear velocity) through
different experimental approaches. The Pasco Rotary Motion Sensor is a bi-directional position sensor
designed to measure both linear and angular position, velocity, and acceleration. DataStudio software does
all of the recalculations between the angular and linear quantities. This sensor contains an optical encoder
that gives a maximum resolution of 0.02 mm (!) or 0.09 degree. The maximum sample rate equals 1000
samples per second and the maximum speed is 30 revolutions per second.
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate quantitatively and graphically two fundamental physical
laws linear momentum and energy conservation in one-dimensional elastic and inelastic collisions.
Equipment
Two Collision Carts with magnetic (for elastic collision experiments) and Velcro (for inelastic collision
experiments) bumpers, extra masses, Dynamics Track, and Rotary Motion Sensor measurement system for
each cart (see Fig. 1).
Theory
Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
Consider the collision of two carts of masses m
1
and m
2
that move with velocities
1
v
r
and
2
v
r
respectively
just prior to the collision, and with
'
1
v
r
and
'
2
v
r
just after collision (Fig. 2). Notice that the directions of
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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velocity vectors in the figures are arbitrary. The total linear momentum of the mechanical system consisting
of the two carts before P
r
and after
'
P
r
collision can be represented as follows:
2 2 1 1 2 1
v v
r r r r
r
m m p p P + = + = and
'
2 2 1 1
'
2
'
1
'
v v
r r r r
r
m m p p P
'
+ = + = (2)
The Law of Linear Momentum Conservation states that total momentum of isolated system (without
external forces) before the collision equals to total momentum of the system after the collision. Thus,

'
2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1
v v v v
r r r r
m m m m
'
+ = + (3)

Figure 1: Experiment Equipment

Kinetic energies before, K, and after, K, collision can be written as

2 2
2
2 2
2
1 1
v v m m
K + = and
2 2
2
'
2 2
2
'
1 1 '
v v m m
K + = (4)

Figure 2: One-Dimensional Collisions in Two-Body System

During an elastic collision, kinetic energy is converted to the potential energy of the bodies deformation
and back into kinetic energy as the carts bounce off one another. Thus, the kinetic energy, in the case of an
elastic collision is conserved, that is
'
K K or
2 2 2 2
2
'
2 2
2
'
1 1
2
2 2
2
1 1
v v v v m m m m
+ + (5)
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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During the collision, the carts accelerate away from each other due to the action of elasticity forces restoring
the deformed bodies shapes. Just after the impact, when the acceleration reaches zero (bodies deformation
is restored), the situation is represented in Fig.2a.
In a case of a perfectly inelastic collision (that is shown in Fig.2b), the carts stick together after the collision
and move with velocity
'
2
'
1
'
v v v = = . In this case, the total linear momentum is conserved:
( )
'
2 1 2 2 1 1
v v v
r r r
m m m m + = + (6)
but, the kinetic energy, in the case of inelastic collision changes due to losses (conversion of the kinetic
energy into the heat or internal energy)
2
) m (
2 2
2
2 1
2
2 2
2
1
v v v +
+
m m m
(7)
So, there is no law for conservation of the mechanical energy. On the contrary, the total energy (mechanical
plus internal) is conserved even in the case of inelastic collision.
You are going to verify these relationships with carts of different mass colliding on a dynamics track. Since
a physical impact of the plastic or metal cart bumpers during the process of collision is usually partially
inelastic (scratches and small hollows), to obtain a perfectly elastic collision you are going to use the
magnetic bumpers of the carts. The repulsive forces between the different poles of permanent magnets do
not allow the carts to collide physically. This provides for an elastic collision because the only way to lose
mechanical energy in this case is through electromagnetic radiation and this can be neglected due to the
small carts acceleration. To get an inelastic collision, you are going to use the cart bumpers equipped with
Velcro tabs. In this case, the hooks and loops in the Velcro tabs stick the two carts together during the
collision and this is exactly what we need.
Coefficient of Restitution
There is a measure of the elasticity of the collision, called the coefficient of restitution, e:
2 1
1 2
v v
v v


= e (8)
that depends only on the elastic properties of the colliding objects. The coefficient of restitution is the ratio
of the differences in velocities after and before the collision, in other words, the difference in the velocities
of the two colliding objects after the collision, divided by the difference in their velocities before the
collision. A perfectly elastic collision has a coefficient of restitution of 1 (difference after has the same
magnitude as the difference before). Example: two diamonds bouncing off each other. A perfectly plastic, or
inelastic, collision has e = 0 (objects move together after the collision). Example: two lumps of clay that
don't bounce at all, but stick together. So, the coefficient of restitution will always be between zero and one
(0 < e < 1).
It is simple to calculate that the kinetic energy of the system decreases by
) 1 ( ) (
) ( 2
2 2
2 1
2 1
2 1
e
m m
m m
K
+
= v v (9)
as a result of the collision. This part of the mechanical energy of the system transforms into its internal
energy. If e = 1 (perfectly elastic collision) K = 0, i.e. there is no loss of the mechanical energy. If e = 0
(perfectly inelastic collision), in the case when m
1
= m
2
, and v
2
= 0 before the collision (second object is
at rest before the collision) then,
2 2
1
2
1 1
v m
K = , that is, the loss in the kinetic energy is equal to a half of
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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the initial kinetic energy of the system. If the mass of the second object (that is at rest before the collision) is
much heavier than the mass of the first one m
2
m
1
, in the case when v
2
= 0 for perfectly inelastic collision
from Equation 9 one can get
2
2
1 1
v m
K
that is almost all mechanical energy can be converted into internal energy. Example: an arrow flies and gets
into a stationary wood target (m
2
= ), in this case K = K exactly. One can see that Equation 9 is very
useful to estimate the kinetic energy losses in collisions.
Collision Time
The time dependence of cart velocity during the collision looks like the plot Velocity in Fig. 3. It is difficult
to obtain the exact collision time from this graph because it is not clear when the collision starts and ends.
But there is a method for determining the time of collision for this kind of transient process. If we
differentiate the velocity graph in Fig. 3, the collision time can be obtained as full width at half maximum
(FWHM) of the dv/dt plot. In this experiment, you will measure the collision time for elastic collision only
because for inelastic collisions with Velcro Pads the velocity graph becomes too noisy in order to resolve
the collision time if we use high enough sensor sample rate.

Figure 3: Definition of the Collision Time
To obtain more practice with collisions, go to the following web pages with JAVA physlets:
http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph11e/collision.htm
http://www3.ltu.edu/~s_schneider/physlets/main/momenta3.shtml
http://www3.ltu.edu/~s_schneider/physlets/main/momenta3c.shtml
http://www3.ltu.edu/~s_schneider/physlets/main/momenta4.shtml
http://www3.ltu.edu/~s_schneider/physlets/main/momenta1.shtml

Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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Setup
Computer Setup
1. Plug two Rotary Motion Sensors into channels 1, 2 and 3,4 of the 750 Interface respectively.
2. Plug the 750 Interface into the computers USB port. Turn on the 750 Interface. It will automatically
install hardware driver on your computer if it was not installed yet.
3. Open DataStudio. Choose the DataStudio configuration file entitled Linear_momentum_750.ds and
proceed with the following instructions.
Equipment Setup



Figure 4: Experiment Setup
1. The experiment setup is shown in Figure 4.
2. Label the carts. In order to do this, press the Start button on the DataStudio toolbar. Move the carts by
hand one by one and identify which cart movement appears on which graph in the Velocity window.
Label the cart which movement corresponds to Velocity1 graph (data comes from sensor #1) as Cart 1
and label the other one as Cart 2 (data comes from sensor #2). Keep the carts connected to the same
sensors for all the experiments.
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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3. Level the track. To do this, place a cart on the track and see if the cart rolls one way or the other. Use the
leveling screw on the fixed end stop to raise or lower that end until the track is level and the cart will not
roll one way or the other on its own. Use a spirit level to check whether the track is as horizontal as
possible.
Note: It is very important that the track is level to get the best results.
Procedure (Experimental Method)
You are going to measure the cart velocities, linear momenta, and kinetic energies just before and right after
a collision in three different cases: perfectly elastic, perfectly inelastic, and partially inelastic collisions.
After that, you will compare the total system linear momenta and the total kinetic energies before and after
the collision. And, finally, you are going to calculate the restitution coefficient for all experiments that you
have done and the collision time for perfectly elastic collision only.
Perfectly Elastic Collisions
You will take two runs (Runs #1-2) of data with different cart masses when one moving cart collides with a
cart at rest.
1. Place the carts with the magnetic ends facing each other on the track as indicated in Figure 4. Both carts
have to be without any additional masses.
2. Select the Velocity graph window.
3. Press the Start button on the DataStudio toolbar to start recording data.
4. Gently push the cart and let it roll toward the other one.
Note: The force of the push should be sufficient to propel both carts after the collision, but not hard enough
to make the carts vibrate or jump the track. A smooth motion will produce the best results.
5. Press the Stop button to stop recording data after the collision.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the next mass distribution between carts:
Cart 1 is empty; cart 2 has 1 additional block.
7. Weigh the cart masses and record the correct cart masses for both runs in Table 1.
Note: Do not forget to measure the blocks mass.
Save your DataStudio file after each run because the computer can crash!
Perfectly Inelastic Collisions
You will take two runs (Runs #3-4) of data with different cart masses when one moving cart collides with a
cart at rest.
1. Place the carts with the Velcro tabs facing each other on the track as indicated in Figure 4. Both carts
have to be without any additional masses.
2. Select the Velocity graph window.
3. Start recording data.
4. Gently push the cart and let it roll toward the other one.
5. Stop recording data after the collision.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the next mass distribution between carts:
Cart 1 is empty; cart 2 has 1 additional block.
7. Record the correct cart masses for both runs in Table 1.
Partially Inelastic Collisions
You will take two runs (Runs #5-6) of data with different cart masses when one moving cart collides with a
cart at rest.
1. Place the carts on the track as indicated in Figure 4, one with the Velcro tab facing the magnetic end of
the other. Both carts have to be without any additional masses.
2. Select the Velocity graph window.
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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3. Start recording data.
4. Gently push the cart and let it roll toward the other one.
5. Stop recording data after the collision.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the next mass distribution between carts:
Cart 1 is empty; cart 2 has 1 additional block.
7. Record the correct cart masses for both runs in Table 1.
Analysis
Initial and Final Velocities
1. Select the Velocity Graph Window and press the Data button to obtain the data recorded during the
experiment. Choose Run #1. Click the Scale to fit button on the Graph display if necessary for both
graphs. You can also use Zoom Select button in order to select the collision part of your graph. Click
Align Matching X-Scales to force the alignment of the X-scales of both graphs in the Graph display
window.
2. Select Velocity 1 graph. Click the Smart Tool button. Select Velocity 2 graph. Click the Smart Tool
button again. Both Smart Tool cursors will be synchronized. Use the Smart Tool cursor to measure:
the velocities of carts 1 (v
1
) and 2 (v
2
) just before the collision and the time when the collision began,
t
1
; record the data in Table 1;
the velocities of carts 1 (
1
v ) and 2 (
'
2
v ) just after the collision and the time when the collision ended,
t
2
; record the data in Table 1.
3. Calculate the coefficient of restitution, e, according to Equation 8. Record its value in Table 1.
4. Repeat steps 1- 3 for all 6 runs.
Table 1
Run # m
1
, kg m
2
, kg t
1
, s v
1
, m/s v
2
, m/s t
2
, s
1
v , m/s
2
v , m/s e
1

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Momentum and Kinetic Energy
1. Select the Total Momentum graph window and press the Data button to obtain the data recorded during
the experiment. Choose Run #1. Click the Scale to fit button on the Graph display if necessary. You can
also use Zoom Select button in order to select the collision part of your graph. Since the momentum is
not measured by the rotary motion sensor at once, we need to use the Calculator Tool to represent the
graph of the total momentum,
2 2 1 1
v m v m P + = , versus time. For this reason we have to change the
mass of the carts in the Calculator Tool every time it changes. To do this, click the Calculate button on
the graph display. In the field m1= enter the cart 1 mass value (in kg) and in the field m2= enter the
cart 2 mass value (in kg) corresponding to the given run number. Do not forget to do it every time you
select different runs. Do not forget that m1 is the mass of the cart that draws the curve on the Velocity 1
graph.
2. Use the Smart Tool cursor to measure the total momentum before (P) and after (P') the collision using
the time of the beginning and the end of the collision (Step 2 in the Initial and Final Velocities
Analysis). Record data in Table 2.
3. Calculate a percent difference between the two values measured (% difference = 100%|P - P'|/P).
Record its value in Table 2.
4. Select the Total Kinetic Energy graph window and press the Data button to obtain the data recorded
during the experiment. Choose Run #1. Click the Scale to fit button on the Graph display if necessary.
You can also use Zoom Select button in order to select the collision part of your graph. Since the kinetic
Physics I Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT
Lab #PhI04: Energy and Linear Momentum Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

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energy cannot be measured by the rotary motion sensor at once, we need to use the Calculator Tool to
represent the graph of the total kinetic energy, 2 / ) (
2
2 2
2
1 1
v m v m K + = , versus time. For this reason, we
have to change the mass of the carts in the Calculator Tool every time it changes. To do this, click the
Calculate button on the graph display. In the field m1= enter the cart 1 mass value (in kg) and in the
field m2= enter the cart 2 mass value (in kg) corresponding to the given run number. Do not forget to
do it every time you choose different runs.
5. Use the Smart Tool cursor to measure the total kinetic energy before (K ) and after (K) the collision
using the time of the beginning and the end of the collision. Record data in Table 2.
6. Calculate the kinetic energy loss in the collision K=100%(K - K)/K. Record its value in Table 2
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for all 6 runs.
Table 2



Collision time
1. Open the DataStudio configuration file entitled Collision_Time_750.ds.
2. Place the carts with the magnetic ends facing each other on the track. Both carts have to be without
any additional masses.
3. Press the Start button on the DataStudio toolbar to start recording data.
4. Gently push one cart and let it roll toward the other one that is at rest.
5. Press the Stop button to stop recording data after the collision.
6. Select the Collision Time graph window. In this window, time differentiation of the velocity v
1
along
with graph smoothing and sign reversing has been performed using the Calculator Tool.
7. Click the Scale to fit button on the Graph display if necessary. You can also use Zoom Select button in
order to select the collision part of your graph.
8. Use the Smart Tool cursor to measure the collision time (time interval at half of maximum height of the
dv/dt graph). To do so, measure the maximum height of the collision curve first and place the Smart
Tool cursor on the growing part of the curve at half of the height. Move a mouse cursor around the
Smart Tool cursor until you can see the Delta Tool () cursor. Drag this cursor with the mouse to the
point of the half height on the falling part of the curve. Read the time in seconds beside the horizontal
arrow. Record data in your report.

Make conclusions.
Run
#
P, kgm/s P', kgm/s % difference K, kgm
2
/s
2
K', kgm
2
/s
2
Loss of Kinetic
Energy, %
1



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