Experiment 14

CONSERVATION OF LINEAR MOMENTUM USING GROOVED TRACK

OBJECTIVES

1. To verify the law of conservation of momentum using the grooved track.

2. To determine the velocities of two balls A and B before and after collision,
and subsequently, their momenta before and after collision.

MATERIALS

Grooved track, meterstick, triple beam balance, white paper, carbon paper, two
sphere balls of different masses.

THEORY

One of the most important fundamental conservation laws of mechanics is the

conservation of momentum. Momentum is defined as the product of the mass (m) of a
body and its velocity (v). The law of conservation of momentum states that if there is
no net external force acting upon a system of bodies, the momentum of the system
remains constant. This law is especially useful in situations such as collisions, where
large forces act for short times and cause sudden changes in the motion of the body.

There are two types of collision. One is elastic collision or elastic impact and the
other, inelastic collision or plastic impact. A collision is characterized by the ability of
the colliding bodies to return either totally (elastic collision) or partially (inelastic
collision) to their original shapes when released from a deformed position after
collision. There are two stages for any collision: (1) the deformation stage wherein the
bodies are compressed by the impact forces and (2) the recovery stage during which
the bodies return totally or partially to their undeformed shapes. When two elastic
bodies collide, the recovery stage causes the bodies to rebound or move apart after the
impact. During a collision of perfectly elastic bodies, both the kinetic energy and
momentum of the system are conserved. If an inelastic collision is characterized by the
coupling of the colliding bodies after impact, it is called completely inelastic collision.

A more common occurrence is for the colliding bodies to be left partially deformed by
the impact forces, in which case a fraction of the kinetic energy is lost in the generation
of heat and sound during the impact, and therefore only the momentum of the system is
conserved. During an inelastic or plastic collision, momentum of the system is
conserved but the kinetic energy of the system is greatly decreased or totally lost in the
process of collision.

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The two extreme cases of collisions are shown in the diagrams below:

vA vA
vB vB
mA mB mA mB

Figure 14-1 Elastic Collision

If the interacting bodies are perfectly elastic and undergoes a head – on collision
(which means that the pre – collision velocities lie on the same line), the post – collision
velocities are also on the same line as the pre – collision velocities. Applying
conservation of both momentum and kinetic energy, we have the equations

𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐵 + 𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐵 = 𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐴 ′ + 𝑚𝐵 𝑣𝐵 ′

1 1 1 2 1 2
𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐴 2 + 𝑚𝐵 𝑣𝐵 2 = 𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐴 ′ + 𝑚𝐵 𝑣𝐵 ′
2 2 2 2

From these two equations, it can be shown that

𝑣𝐴 − 𝑣𝐵 = −(𝑣𝐴 ′ − 𝑣𝐵 ′ )

This equation means that in an elastic collision, the relative velocity is also
conserved.

vA V
vB vA = vB = V
mA mA + mB = M
mB

BEFORE IMPACT AFTER IMPACT

Figure 14-2 Perfectly Inelastic Collision

Applying the momentum conservation principle to the bodies in Figure 4-2,

𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐴 + 𝑚𝐵 𝑣𝐵 = 𝑀 𝑉

𝑚𝐴 𝑣𝐴 + 𝑚𝐵 𝑣𝐵
𝑽=
𝑀

In an inelastic collision, only the momentum of the system is conserved. For this type of
collision, a constant that characterizes the “elasticity” of the interacting bodies which

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we call coefficient of restitution will be introduced. Coefficient of restitution,
designated by ∈, is the negative ratio of the relative velocity after collision to the
relative velocity before collision. Symbolically,
𝒗𝑨 ′ − 𝒗𝑩 ′
∈ = −
𝒗𝑨 − 𝒗𝑩

𝒗𝑩 ′ − 𝒗𝒂 ′
∈ =
𝒗𝑨 − 𝒗𝑩
For an elastic collision, the coefficient of restitution is unity; while in an inelastic
collision, its value lies between zero and 1.

PROCEDURE

1. Set up the apparatus as shown in Figure 14-3.

Ball A
bigger ball

vA
grooved track

marking
paper y

xA
Figure 14-3

2. Release ball A from the position shown in the diagram. Measure the height of fall
y and the horizontal distance x A . Do this for three trials and obtain the average
value of x A . From projectile equations, calculate the average velocity v A of ball A
before leaving the track. This is the average velocity of ball A before colliding
with another ball B.

𝑔
𝑣̅𝐴 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝐴 �
2𝑦

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3. Release ball A from the position shown in Fig. 3. Measure the height of fall y and
the horizontal distance x A . Repeat two more trials. Get the average value of x A .
From projectile equations, calculate the velocity of ball A before leaving the
track.
𝑔
𝑣̅𝐴 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝐴 �
2𝑦
4. Using the same set up, place a second ball B at the bottom of the track as shown
in Fig. 4 below and release ball A from the top of the track. The two balls collide
at the bottom of the track and fall simultaneously. Do this also for three trials.
5. Measure and record the distances x’ A and x’ B for each trial and compute the
average values.

vA’
vB’

xA ’
xB ’

Figure 14-4

6. Calculate the average velocity of each ball after collision using the equations
below which were similarly derived from projectile equations.
𝑔 𝑔
𝑣̅𝐴 ′ = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝐴 ′ �2𝑦 𝑣̅𝐵 ′ = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝐵 ′ �2𝑦

7. Measure the masses of the two balls using the triple beam balance or electronic
balance.

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8. Calculate the momenta of the system before and after collision taking note that
v B = 0.

𝒑𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 = 𝒎𝑨 𝒗𝑨

𝒑𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 = 𝒎𝑨 𝒗𝑨 ′ + 𝒎𝑩 𝒗𝑩 ′

9. Compare the two momenta by getting the percentage difference.

10. Fill up tables 1 and 2 completely in the data and answer sheet.

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Name: Date:
Course, Year, & Section: Group No. :

Experiment 14
CONSERVATION OF LINEAR MOMENTUM USING GROOVED TRACK

DATA TABLE 1
1 𝑔 1 1
Height of fall, y = ______ m 𝑡
= �2𝑦 𝑡
= _______ 𝑠

Before Collision After Collision

Trial
x A (m) x A ’ (m) x B ’ (m)
1
2
3
Average

DATA TABLE 2

Average
Collisio Mass Momentum Total Percent
Ball Velocity
n (kg) (kg – m/s) Momentum Difference
(m/s)
A
Before
B
A
After
B

CALCULATIONS

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ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS

1. A long cart is at is at rest on a frictionless pavement. A man at one end of the cart
walks toward the other end. (a) Will the cart move while the man is walking?
(b) If so, in which direction? (c) What happens when the man comes to a stop?
Explain your answers briefly.

2. An empty coal car is moving at a certain speed along a level frictionless track. (a)
It begins to rain and the cart collects some rainwater. What happens to the speed
of the car? (b) The rain stops and the collected rainwater leaks out from the car.
What happens to the speed of the car now? Explain your answers briefly.

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3. A 0.30–kg ball is dropped from a height of 3.0 m above the floor. It rebounds to a
height of 2.0 m. (a) Find the impulse exerted by the floor of the ball. (b) If the
ball was in contact with the floor for 1.5 millisecond, find the average force
exerted by the floor on the ball during that time.

4. A 0.010 – kg bullet is fired with velocity of 400 m/s into a pendulum bob which
has a mass of 0.990 kg. How high does the pendulum bob (plus bullet) swing
after the collision?

5. A 2.0 – kg object moving at 3.0 m/s to the right collides with a 3.0 – kg object
moving at 2.0 m/s to the left. The coefficient of restitution is 0.6. Find the
velocity of each after the collision.

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