P1199905

Conservation of momentum in multiple inelastic

collisions with the demonstration track and the
timer 4-4

Physics Mechanics Energy conservation & impulse

   
Difficulty level Group size Preparation time Execution time

medium 2 10 minutes 20 minutes

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]

37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P1199905

General information

Application

In an inelastic impact, kinetic energy is extracted from the

system and converted into internal energy, which is no
longer available for movement.

The kinetic energy consequently decreases with each

impact. The bodies usually undergo a deformation and
then continue to move together with an impulse that
corresponds to the sum of the individual impulses before
the impacts.

Experiment set-up

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Other information (1/2)

Prior The basic concept of an inelastic collision and classical mechanics should have already
been covered in class.
knowledge

Scientific In the case of several successive inelastic shocks, the following applies
principle p1 + p
2 + p
3 +… = p′
+ p
3 +… = p ′′
+…

The energy of the entire system taking into account the deformation energies ΔE (i)
received is as follows:

Ekin = Ekin + ΔE
′ ′
= Ekin + ΔE
′′
1 +Δ E ′′
=…

Other information (2/2)

Learning If two cars collide inelastically, they move together in one direction at the same speed.
The momentum of the movement corresponds to the sum of the individual
objective momentums before the collision.

Tasks 1. Determination of the impulses before and after two inelastic impacts of a moving
car with two cars at rest.

2. Determination of the kinetic energy before and after two inelastic collisions of a
moving car with two cars at rest.

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Safety instructions

The general instructions for safe experimentation in science lessons apply to this experiment.

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Equipment
Position Material Item No. Quantity
1 Demonstration track, aluminium, 1.5 m 11305-00 1
2 Cart, low friction sapphire bearings 11306-00 3
3 Shutter plate for low friction cart, width: 100 mm 11308-00 3
4 Needle with plug 11202-06 3
5 Tube with plug 11202-05 3
6 Plasticine, 10 sticks 03935-03 1
7 Weight for low friction cart, 400 g 11306-10 3
8 Slotted weight, black, 10 g 02205-01 4
9 Slotted weight, black, 50 g 02206-01 3
10 End holder for demonstration track 11305-12 1
11 Starter system for demonstration track 11309-00 1
12 Magnet w.plug f.starter system 11202-14 1
13 Light barrier, compact 11207-20 3
14 Holder for light barrier 11307-00 3
15 PHYWE Timer 4-4 13604-99 1
16 Connecting cord, 32 A, 1000 mm, red 07363-01 3
17 Connecting cord, 32 A, 1000 mm, yellow 07363-02 3
18 Connecting cord, 32 A, 1000 mm, blue 07363-04 3
19 Portable Balance, OHAUS CR2200 48914-00 1
20 Slotted weight, silver bronze, 10 g 02205-02 4
21 Slotted weight, silver bronze, 50 g 02206-02 3
22 Slotted weight, blank, 1 g 03916-00 20

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Setup and procedure

Set-up (1/4)

1. In order to compensate for minor friction effects, the

track must be set at a slight angle using the adjusting
screws on the feet, so that a measuring trolley just does
not start to roll to the right.

For adjustment you can also let a measuring car roll along
the track with an initial pulse and compare the shading
times of the light barriers.

2. A launching device shall be installed at the left end of the

runway.

Note; to start the trolley with initial impulse, the starting

device must be mounted in such a way that the trolley
Launching device for shock receives a force impulse from the ram.

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Set-up (2/4)

3. A tube filled with plasticine is attached to the end bracket

at the right end of the track to slow the car down without
hard impact.

4. The three forked light barriers are mounted with the

light barrier holders on the roadway and positioned at the
markings for 30 cm, 70 cm and 110 cm.

The light barrier which is closer to the starting device is

called light barrier 1, the middle one is called light barrier 2
and the one closest to the end bracket is called light barrier
3.

End bracket with plasticine

Set-up (3/4)

5. The forked light barriers are connected in sequence

from left to right to the sockets in fields "1" to "3" of the
timing device.

The yellow sockets of the light barriers are connected to

the yellow sockets of the measuring device, the red sockets
to the red sockets and the blue sockets of the light barriers
to the white sockets of the time measuring device (see
illustration).

6. The two slide switches on the timing device are set to the
right-hand position "falling edge" ( ) to select the trigger
edge.

Connecting the light barriers

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Set-up (4/4)

7.The two measuring cars are placed on the roadway.

The left wagon, which is closest to the starting device (hereafter

referred to as wagon 1 with speed v1 is fitted with the holding
solenoid with plug in the direction of the starting device and with
a needle with plug in the direction of travel.

Into the sides of the middle carriage (carriage 2 with v2 ) and of

the right wagon (wagon 3), a tube filled with plastiline is inserted
in the direction of wagon 1 and a needle with plug in the direction
of travel.

In all wagons, the covers for measuring wagons (b = 100 mm) are
latched into the side on which the forked light barriers are to be
Completed impact in front of light barrier located.

Procedure (1/3)

1.At the beginning of the measurement, the masses of the carriages are to be determined by means of the
balance. The masses of the wagons may vary slightly due to the different components fitted. In this
experiment, however, all three trolley masses should initially be approximately the same, so small
corrections should be made using the 1 g slotted weights.

2.For the execution, the timing device must be switched to operating mode 1 "v(s)" ( ). The shadowing times
of the forked light barriers are determined, from which the average speed during the corresponding
passage is calculated via the aperture length.

3.Before starting each impact test, press the "Reset" button to reset the displays.

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Procedure (2/3)

4.Carriage 1 is placed in the starting device. Carriage 2 is positioned between light barriers 1 and 2 close to
light barrier 2. Carriage 3 is positioned behind light barrier 2 just before light barrier 3.

It must be ensured that the respective impact only takes place when the previous light barrier has already
been completely passed through by the (front) rolling carriage and that the impact is completed when the
impacted carriage moves into the following light barrier.

5. By triggering the starting device, carriage 1 is accelerated in the direction of carriage 2.

Thereby he gets an initial velocity v1 and pushes car 2.

Both travel coupled to each other with the common speed v′ onwards. Subsequently, they push car 3 and
roll together at speed v′′ through the rear light barrier.

A single-coated size was measured after the first impact, and a double-coated size was measured after the
second impact.

Procedure (3/3)

6. The interrupted light barriers only record the shading time of the aperture on the front carriage.

However, since the wagons are coupled together and move at the same speed, this shading time is valid for
all wagons.

7. From the three shading times ti with an orifice length of b = 100 mm, the velocities are always vi = b / ti
to determine.

8.The measurement times are to be recorded and averaged for up to five repetitions. The measurement is
then repeated both for different wagon masses and for different mass ratios.

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P1199905

Evaluation (1/11)

Observations

The cars collide one after the other and move away coupled to each other in the same direction. The speed
decreases with each collision.

Evaluation (2/11)

Measurement example for equal masses

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Evaluation (3/11)

Measurement example for equal masses

Evaluation (4/11)

Measurement example for equal masses

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Evaluation (5/11)

Measurement example for different wagon masses

Evaluation (6/11)

Measurement example for different wagon masses.

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Evaluation (6/11)

Measurement example for different wagon masses.

Evaluation (7/11)

Measurement example for different wagon masses

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Evaluation (8/11)

1. For the individual measurements, the impulses are calculated from the wagon masses and the speeds. p
p m m v p m m m v
1
before the impact and ' = ( 1 + 2 ) ⋅ ' after the first, and '' = ( 1 + 2 + 3 ) ⋅ '' after the second
impact. Since the cars stay together after the inelastic impact, they can be considered as one car with a
larger mass.

2. In the case of central collisions of three masses, the law of conservation of momentum applies before and
after each collision:

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

With the initial conditions v = v = 0 the law of conservation of momentum simplifies in this experiment
2 3
as follows:

mv 1 1 =( m + m )v
1 2 ' =( m + m + m )v
1 2 3 '' . (2)

Evaluation (9/11)

3. A comparison with the measured pulses (see measurement example) confirms the pulse conservation law
within the expected error limits.

Due to friction, the impulse of the wagons is reduced as the distance travelled increases. In the
measurement example, the total impulse between two light barriers was reduced by approx. 2-4 % in each
case. For high total masses, the deviations increase due to the low wagon speeds. This becomes particularly
clear in the example of the measurement with three heavy wagons of 800 g each, where the total pulse
reduction is over 15 %.

4. The kinetic energies E1 before the impact and E ' and E '' calculated after the corresponding impacts. A
comparison of the kinetic energies shows that the kinetic energy has decreased significantly after each
impact (see measurement example). The kinetic energy has decreased by a considerable amount after two
impacts and is usually less than 50 % of the original kinetic energy (see (E '' −E1 )/ E1 .

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Evaluation (10/11)

5. However, in a closed system, the energy must be conserved and cannot be lost. This is because energy is
expended in the impacts to deform the wrought rubber. The total deformation energy
ΔEg = ΔE ′ + ΔE ′′ + … is composed of the deformation energy of the individual impacts and leads to a
reduction of the kinetic energy. The law of conservation of energy is therefore:
1
2
mv 1
2
1
+
1
2
mv 2
2
2
+
1
2
mv 3
2
3

=
1
2
( m
1 + m )v
2
′2
E
+Δ ′
+
1
2
mv 3
2
3
=
1
2
( m 1 + m
2 + m )v
3
′′2
+Δ E ′
+Δ E ′′
. (3)

Evaluation (11/11)

6. Taking into account the law of conservation of momentum (2), the law of conservation of energy (3) gives
the total deformation energy to be expected

ΔEg = − 12 m1 v21 ⋅ m1m+2m+2m+3m3

This is therefore only dependent on the individual masses and the initial speed. A comparison of the
theoretical values with the measured values provides a very good agreement.

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Notes (1/2)

1. To accelerate trolley 1 with the launcher, the ram is pushed in until it locks into place. Since the starting
device provides three different sized steps, care must be taken to use the same lock for each experiment so
that the same force is transmitted when the starting device is released.

2. The carriages do not move completely frictionless, a residual friction remains and the total momentum
decreases slightly. This also causes a loss of energy, so that the differences in the kinetic energies before and
after the impacts do not fully correspond to the deformation energy ΔE of the wrought masses.

3. The correct fit of all panels on the carriages should be checked before each measurement, as they can slip
due to abrupt braking.

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37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de