EWeaver+Lab+12

Cup Collision Lab

Hypothesis: I hypothesize that the laws of conservation of momentum will apply for both elastic and inelastic collision. The momentum before the collision should be equal to the momentum after the collision. As far as kinetic energy goes, the kinetic energy is conserved for elastic collisions, but is not for inelastic collisions. If the data is taken correctly this is what should be true.



Inelastic II Kinetic Energy
 * **Before (J)** || **After (J)** ||
 * .12007 || .06728 ||

Kinetic Energy Conserved: 56%

Inelastic II Momentum Momentum Conserved: 92%
 * **Before (kg-m/s)** || **After (kg-m/s)** ||
 * .4937 || .4538 ||

Inelastic I Kinetic Energy Kinetic Energy Conserved: 24%
 * **Before (J)** || **After (J)** ||
 * .0766 || .0182 ||

Inelastic I Momentum Momentum Conserved: 86%
 * **Before (kg-m/s)** || **After (kg-m/s)** ||
 * .2809 || .2422 ||

Elastic II Kinetic Energy
 * **Before (J)** || **After (J)** ||
 * .2111 || .1849 ||

Kinetic Energy Conserved: 88%

Elastic II Momentum
 * **Before (kg-m/s)** || **After (kg-m/s)** ||
 * .6554 || .6168 ||

Momentum Conserved: 94% Elastic I Kinetic Energy
 * **Before (J)** || **After (J)** ||
 * .1128 || .0987 ||

Kinetic Energy Conserved: 87.5%

Elastic I Momentum
 * **Before (kg-m/s)** || **After (kg-m/s)** ||
 * .3416 || .3227 ||

Momentum Conserved: 94%

In conclusion, the laws of conservation of momentum and kinetic energy were generally true throughout the lab. Any error would come from the data I collected.