# 2LA_Lab_8_Collisions5 - Elastic and Inelastic...

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Chapter 8 / Exercise 8.18
College Physics
Serway/Vuille
Expert Verified
Elastic and Inelastic Collisions (Includes Pre Lab Assignment) This week we will study elasticand inelasticcollisions on the air track. You will record the velocity of gliders before and after collisions, and calculate the changes in momentum and kinetic energy that occurred in each collision. The measurements will be used to verify Conservation of Momentum and Conservation of Energy for elastic collisions in one dimension. You will find that, even with the air track, perfectly elastic collisions are hard to achieve. You will be asked to estimate the energy imbalance, and to speculate on where the energy is lost (or gained). You will use a collision in which the gliders stick together for studying inelastic collisions. In this case, we will verify conservation of momentum. Apparatus The air track is provided with two gliders and two 50 gram weights. For elastic collisions, one glider will have a “rubber band bumper”, and the other will have a metal tab. For inelastic collisions, the gliders will have a “needle” and “wax” pair, one on each glider, so they will stick together in a collision. Both gliders will have a metal armature that can be held by the electromagnet launcher. Each end of the air track is equipped with a launcher. A power supply with switches is used to control the release of gliders from the launchers. The mass of the gliders, attachments, and the added weights will be measured with an analytical scale. You will add weights in pairs, one on each side of a gliders, to make different masses for collisions. The motion of the gliders will be recorded by two photogate timers connected to the computer by the PASCO adapter. The Data Studiosoftware on the computer will compute the glider speeds for you. Air Track Assembly (with Electromagnetic Launchers) Electromagnetic Launcher (Blown-up view)
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Chapter 8 / Exercise 8.18
College Physics
Serway/Vuille
Expert Verified
2 The Physics Elastic Collisions Both momentum and energy are conserved in an elasticcollision. We will be performing measurements on a horizontal air track, so that the only energy we need to consider isKinetic Energy. You will make collisions where only one glider is moving before the collision, and collisions where both gliders are moving. The general case of both movingis presented here. Note:you must be careful about the sign of the velocityof the gliders. We will use the convention that a glider moving to the right has positive v, and one moving to the left has negative v. We begin with both gliders moving, one with mass m1moves with velocity v1, and the other has mass m2and velocity v2. After the collision the first glider (mass m1) has velocity v1f, and the other glider has velocity v2f. Conservation of Momentum gives Pi= Pf, or m1v1im2v2im1v1fm2v2f.The change in total momentum in the collision should be zero.