By: Poon Unn Fah Lookpeach 1103

CONSERVATION
of MOMENTUM

Conservation
of Momentum
Conservation
of Momentum
Conservation
of Momentum
 Introduction
Momentum is the quantity of motion that an
object has. It can also be defined as “mass in
motion.” The conservation of momentum on the
other hand is a direct consequence of Newton’s
Third Law. Conservation of momentum only
applies to an isolated system with no external
force acting on the system.

In this lab, we experimented on two different

types of collision: elastic and inelastic collisions.
We know that momentum is conserved in both
elastic and inelastic collisions.For the
experiment we recorded the time and the mass
of the two carts. Then we use the data we
recorded to calculate for the velocity and the
momentum to find the percent difference.
Objective
To reproduce two types of collision (elastic
and inelastic collision) using the materials and
the list of known and unknown data provided.
Also, determine whether momentum is
conserved for each type of collisions.

Materials
Setup
Procedure
1. Ensure that tracks are levelled.
2. Mark carts with a tape (cart 1 and 2).
3. Measure the distance of 20 cm.
4. Measure the result.
5. Record information.
6. Proceed same steps for both inelastic and
elastic collision
Results
Inelastic Collision

M1= 513.62g

M2 =510g

V10=0

V20=13.89cm/s

Distance travelled by cart2 before collision =

20cm

Distance travelled by cart1 and cart2 after

collision = 20cm

Vf= 6.56 cm/s

%difference=5.3%
Elastic Collision

M1= 513.62g

M2=510g

V10=0

V20=9.05cm/s

Distance travelled by cart2 before collision =

20cm

Distance travelled by cart1 and cart2 after

collision = 20cm

Vf1= 8.96 cm/s

Vf2=0

%difference=0.29%
Analysis of
Results
Elastic Collision

Data Before Collision After Collision

Cart A Cart B Cart A Cart B

Trial 1 0 0.53 0 0.5

Trial 2 0 1 0 1.08

Trial 3 0 0.68 0 0.66

Average 0 0.703 0 0.75

Inelastic Collision

Data Before Collision After Collision

Cart A Cart B Cart A Cart B

Trial 1 0 0.47 0 1.06

Trial 2 0 0.44 0 0.73

Trial 3 0 0.53 0 1.26

Average 0 0.48 0 1.017

Conclusion
In conclusion, we were experimenting on two
types of collisions. The first one is inelastic
collision which is when the object bounces onto
another and they both continue to move that
direction. The second one is elastic collision
when one of the objects hit the other one and
stopped while the other one moves. We
calculated to find the time and the elastic
collision takes more time to go a certain spot
while inelastic collision will make it go faster.
Recommendation
When doing this experiment there
might be some errors or things that
we did wrong or could have done
better. I think that we could have a
better instrument that could measure
the time more accurately and
precisely. We could also have a
material that could measure the
distance from each mark to each
mark more carefully.
References
https://www.khanacademy.org/scienc
e/ap-physics-1/ap-linear-momentum/c
onservation-of-momentum-and-elastic
-collisions-ap/a/what-is-conservation-
of-momentum

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/cl
ass/momentum/Lesson-2/Momentum-
Conservation-Principle
Work Log
Names Jobs
Poon Organizing the
lab report
Lookpeach Recording Data
in table
Unn Research and
Data gatherer
Fah Research and
Calculating the
data