Momentum Lab Report

MOMENTUM LAB REPORT

Oct. 27th, 2015

Mr.B.Chang, Block B

Principal Investigator:Jeremy Huang

Co-Investigator:McQueen Gu, Carol Li,

                        Gail Nie, Rain Liu

OBJECTIVE:

• To verify that the momentum is conserved in a closed system by using the equipments which can be assembled like Figure 1.

[pic 1]

(Figure 1: The basic set up of the experiment that can verify the conservation of momentum.)

• To verify that the total momentum is also conserved even the collision is in 2-dimension.

BRIEF INTRO:[pic 2]

Momentum is a quality of a moving object, which equals its mass times the velocity it has. It can be shown by the following equation:

Also, in a closed system, if there are two objects having a elastic collision, the total momentum will not change:[pic 3]

The equation works under circumstances in 2-dimension. These statements will be verified in the following experiment.

HYPOTHESIS:

For two objects with initial masses of m1 and m2 and initial velocity of v1i and v2i with final velocities after collision to be v1f and v2f, and their relationship satisfies the equation:[pic 4]

MATERIALS:

1 metal ball                1 marble

1 plumb bob                1 protractor                        

1 pair of scissors        1 meter stick                

1 ruler                         1 tape

1 pencil                1 weight scale

1 rig

1 small ramp with release point and a clamp

2 pieces of carbon paper

1 large piece of blank paper

PROCEDURE:

1. Preparation

1. Find a open space at the extension of a table’s edge, and clamp the ramp on the edge of the table. Install a little component to determine the release point.
2. Use the gradienter to adjust the position of the ramp, and make sure its base is parallel to the ground.
3. Tape the two pieces of A3 paper together and make them as long as possible.
4. Put the taped paper on the floor in front of the ramp, and use the plumb bob to ensure that the edge of the ramp is precisely above the edge of the paper.
5. Use the protractor to ensure that the edge of the paper is perpendicular to the extension of the ramp.
6. Tape the paper on the ground after adjusting the location of it.
7. Measure the height from the release point of the ramp to the surface of the table and the height of the table by using the meter stick and the ruler.
8. Measure the weight of both the metal ball and the marble.

1. Experiment I

1. Release one metal ball from the release point at rest and observe where it lands on the paper.
2. Put a carbon paper on top of the blank paper, approximately covers the possible landing position of the metal ball.
3. Release the metal ball multiple times by using the method in step “ix” to collect a group of dots on the paper, and measure their lengths from the edge of the paper.
4. Use the pencil to draw a straight line from the origin of the paper to the average of the dots.

1. Experiment II

1. Put a marble on the bottom edge of the ramp, release the metal ball from the release point at rest so that they will have a head on collision.
2. Record both dots of on the paper and measure their lengths from the edge of the paper.
3. Do step “xiii” multiple times and collect the data.

1. Experiment III

1. Put a marble on the rig, release the metal ball from the release point at rest, but this time, adjust the position of the marble so that they will not have a head on collision.
2. Record both dots of on the paper and measure their lengths from the edge of the paper and from the point of origin on the paper.

Calculate the vertical distance of two balls and the angle of offs

1. et (tan(vertical distance/horizontal distance))
2. Do step “xvi” multiple times and collect the data.

DATA

*The time for the ball traveling in the air is constant because when not regrading the movement of the ball horizontally, the ball is dropping at rest from the height of the table. After using the equation:[pic 5]