Experiment 8: Collisions

Laboratory Report

Patrick Santos, Melissa Suelto, Byron Leander Tan, Chelsea Leigh Tan, Kyle Gabriel Tanchuling,
Angelica Uy
Department of Chemistry
College of Science, University of Santo Tomas
Espaa, Manila Philippines

Abstract
I. Introduction
In elastic collision, there is no net loss in
kinetic energy in the system as a result of
the collision. Both momentum and kinetic
energy are conserved quantities in elastic
collisions. It is also defined as one in which
both conservation
of
momentum and
conservation of kinetic energy are observed.
This implies that there is no dissipative force
acting during the collision and that all of the
kinetic energy of the objects before the
collision is still in the form of kinetic energy
afterward. A perfectly elastic collision is
defined as one in which there is no loss
of kinetic
energy in
the
collision.
An inelastic collision is one in which part of
the kinetic energy is changed to some other
form of energy in the collision. It is a
collision in which there is a loss of kinetic
energy. While momentum of the system is
conserved in an inelastic collision, kinetic
energy is not. This is because some kinetic
energy had been transferred to something
else. Any macroscopic collision between
objects will convert some of the kinetic

energy into internal energy and other forms

of energy, so no large scale impacts are
perfectly elastic. Momentum is conserved in
inelastic collisions, but one cannot track the
kinetic energy through the collision since
some of it is converted to other forms of
energy. Collisions in ideal gases approach
perfectly
elastic
collisions,
as
do scattering interactions of sub-atomic
particles which are deflected by the
electromagnetic force. Some large-scale
interactions
like
the slingshot type
gravitational interactions between satellites
and planets are perfectly elastic. Collisions
between hard spheres may be nearly elastic,
so it is useful to calculate the limiting case
of an elastic collision. The assumption
of conservation of momentum as well as the
conservation of kinetic energy makes
possible the calculation of the final
velocities in two-body collisions. For
macroscopic objects which come into
contact in a collision, there is always some
dissipation and they are never perfectly
elastic. Collisions between hard steel balls
as in the swinging balls apparatus are nearly
elastic. "Collisions" in which the objects do
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not touch each other, such as Rutherford

scattering or the slingshot orbit of a satellite
off a planet, are elastic collisions. In atomic
or nuclear scattering, the collisions are
typically
elastic
because
the
repulsive Coulomb force keeps the particles
out of contact with each other. Collisions
in ideal gases are very nearly elastic, and
this fact is used in the development of the
expressions for gas pressure in a container.
The coefficient of restitution is a number
between 0 and 1 which describes where an
interaction falls on the scale between
perfectly inelastic (0) and perfectly elastic
(1).
In this experiment, students are expected
to
Apply the Law of Conservation of
Mechanical
Energy
and
Conservation of Momentum for two
colliding bodies
Calculate the loss in kinetic energy
for two coiling bodies
Calculate
restitution.

the

coefficient

of

II. Theory
III.Methodology
IV. Results and Discussion
Activity: Coefficient of restitution
In this experiment, the velocities and
momentum of 2 spheres before and after a
collision were determined as well as the
kinetic energy and coefficient of restitution.
As shown in the table, the momentum and
kinetic energy was conserved by looking at

the values of the momentum and KE of

spheres A and B, before and after the
collision. With this observed, it is
determined that this type of collision is
elastic because it conserves both momentum
and KE. The coefficient of restitution
computed yielded a value of 1, which
perfectly elastic collisions have.
Trial
Velocity of A
before
collision
Velocity of B
before
collision
Momentum of
A before
collision
Momentum of
B before
collision
Total
momentum
before
collision
Kinetic energy
of A before
collision
Kinetic energy
of B before
collision
Total kinetic
energy before
collision
A
B
Velocity of
Sphere A after
collision
Velocity of
Sphere B after

1
-0.82m/s

2
-0.82m/s

3
-0.82m/s

0 m/s

0 m/s

0 m/s

-0.77kg
m/s

-0.77kg
m/s

-0.77 kg
m/s

0 kg m/s

0 kg m/s

0 kg m/s

-0.77 kg
m/s

-0.77 kg
m/s

-0.77 kg
m/s

0.032 J

0.032 J

0.032 J

0J

0J

0J

0.032 J

0.032 J

0.032 J

30/0
0/32
0 m/s

30/0
0/33
0 m/s

30/0
0/35
0 m/s

-0.88m/s

-0.86m/s

-0.91m/s

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collision
Momentum of
A after
collision
Momentum of
B after
collision
Total
momentum
after collision
Kinetic energy
of A after
collision
Kinetic energy
of B after
collision
Total kinetic
energy after
collision
Coefficent of
restitution

traveled before the collision. Collisions

0 kg m/sbetween hard spheres may be nearly elastic,
so it is useful to work out the limiting case
of an elastic collision. The statement of
-0.0865 conservation of momentum as well as the
kg m/s conservation of kinetic energy makes
possible the result of the final velocities in
-0.0865 two-body collisions. In physics state that
kg m/s collisions can be perfectly inelastic, or
elastic.
0J
VI. Application

0 kg m/s

0 kg m/s

-0.0836
kg m/s

-0.0912
kg m/s

-0.086 kg
m/s

-0.0912
kg m/s

0J

0J

0.038 J

0.044 J

0.040 J

0.038 J

0.044 J

0.040 J

1.07

1.17

1.11

Length of String: 0.26165m

Mass of Sphere A: 0.095 kg

1. Who is most likely to be injured in

a car-ten wheeler truck collision?
-

The force of the car acting on the

truck is exactly equal in magnitude
to the force of the truck on the car
(Newton's third law) but Newton's
second law tells us that the
acceleration of each vehicle depends
on the force acting on that vehicle
and the mass so we have
F on truck = magnitude of F on car

Mass of Sphere B: 0.095 kg

V. Conclusion
Both momentum and energy were not
conserved during our one dimensional
elastic collision. When two objects collide,
like pendulum that was examined during the
experiment in the laboratory, some energy is
lost due to the sound caused by the collision.
However, small collisions which serve as a
representation for larger collisions because
the principles remain the same. Having two
objects of the same mass collide at relatively
the same speed, one could see that the total
distance traveled after the collision equaled
almost exactly the same total distance

but F on truck = m truck x a truck

F on car = m car x a car
since the mass of the truck is so
much greater than the mass of the
car, the acceleration of the car is
much greater, and therefore a person
in the car is much more likely to be
injured than a person in the truck the
force acting on a person in each
vehicle will be
F on person = m person x a person
since the acceleration of the person
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in the car is much greater, so will the

force on that individual.
2. When you walk forward, you
interact
with
the
earth.
Conservation
of
momentum
dictates that earth should move
backward. Did you feel the earth
move under your feet? Why?
-

mbullet = 4.25 g
mblock = 2.50 kg = 2, 500 g
h = 12 cm = 0.12 m
mbullet v bullet +mblock v block =( mbullet +mblock ) v block

v bullet =

No, because the mass of the earth is

too large that its velocity would be
too small to be felt.

9.8 m/s 2( 0.12m)

2
( 4.25 g+2500 g )

3. In one fight scene in a fantasy

movie, the superhero grabs his
enemy and throws him forward.
The super hero however remains
stationary. Comment on this scene
from the point of view of physics.
-

The scene is not possible in real life

because when the principle of
conservation of momentum is
applied, the superhero should be
pushed backward when he threw his
enemy forward.

4. The ballistic pendulum designed

by Benjamin Robins in 1742 was
intended to measure the speed of a
bullet. It consisted of a block of
wood initially at rest and free to
move as a pendulum when hit by a
bullet. Suppose that a 4.25g bullet
is fired into a 2.50kg block of wood
of the ballistic pendulum. The
bullet remains embedded in the
block
and
the
block-bullet
combination swings to a height of
12cm. What is the initial speed of
the bullet?

( mbullet +m block ) 2 gh
mballet

4.25 g
4.26 vbullet =903.66 m/s

5. A car is moving east at 3m/s when

it collided with an identical car
moving at 4m/s north. Find the
velocity of the two cars if they stick
together after collision.
v car 1=3 m/s E
v car 2=4 m/s E
3 m/ s

v car 1+2=
5 m/s

1+2 y
|car
car 1+ 2 x |

car 1 +2=tan1

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 53
v car 1+2=5 m/s 53 Nof E

References
[1] HyperPhysics. Elastic and Inelastic
Collisions. Retrieved November 24, 2016
from
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/elacol.html

[2] HyperPhysics. Elastic and Inelastic

Collisions. Retrieved November 24, 2016
from
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/inecol.html
[3] KhanAcademy. What are elastic and
inelastic collisions? Retrieved November 24,
2016
from
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physi
cs/linear-momentum/elastic-and-inelasticcollisions/a/what-are-elastic-and-inelasticcollisions

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