Name: Zach Christoff
Lab Partners: Alyssa Jordan and Jake Hoffner
Date: 2/5/16
Lab Partners: Alyssa Jordan and Jake Hoffner
Date: 2/5/16
Purpose
I will be investigating the law of conservation of momentum during a perfectly inelastic collision.
Theory
According to the law of conservation of momentum, during a perfectly inelastic collision, momentum will be conserved. Therefore, momentum before the collision will equal momentum after the collision. These FBDs and equations will represent what goes on during the collision and the processes that will be used to find an unknown; in this case the unknown is the angle at which the pendulum rises.
Derived Equations:
Experimental Technique
A ball was fired out of the projectile launcher at 3 different settings, each with different velocities.
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When the ball is launched, it is caught by foam inside of a pendulum. Depending on the velocity of the ball, the pendulum will reach different heights.
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The pendulum rotates on this axle. A rotary motion sensor was used to measure the angle of the pendulum as it reached its max height.
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After angle measurements were taken, initial velocity of the ball was measured by using photogates.
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Data
Analysis
Conclusion
After performing this experiment, it is clear that the law of conservation of momentum holds true for the ballistic pendulum. There was little difference between the calculated angle versus the measured angle taken from DataStudio. Some error contributed to these results, however. The pendulum, though very smooth and precise, did have some "wobble" to it when the projectile was shot into it. This could have been improved by screwing the pendulum tighter to the frame. Determining the center of mass for the pendulum was a bit tricky because it was hard to find a perfect balance point for it. Though a center of mass was found, there was a small estimate involved which would contribute to some error in the calculation.
References
Bowman, Doug. "Ballistic Pendulum." Lahs Physics. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.
Wolfs, F. L. H., and Douglas C. Giancoli. Student Study Guide & Selected Solutions Manual : Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics, Vol. 2 & 3, Fourth Edition, by Douglas C. Giancoli. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Wolfs, F. L. H., and Douglas C. Giancoli. Student Study Guide & Selected Solutions Manual : Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics, Vol. 2 & 3, Fourth Edition, by Douglas C. Giancoli. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.