Answer the following question using the data collected in the collision tables. * I got the results in yellow charts, but I am not sure how to process the information, please help! a. Is momentum...
Answer the following question using the data collected in the collision tables.
* I got the results in yellow charts, but I am not sure how to process the information, please help!
a. Is momentum conserved in each collision?
b. Is kinetic energy conserved in each collision?
2 Answers
labrat256 | (Level 2) Adjunct Educator
a) In any closed system, momentum is conserved. The momentum of a body is calculcated by multiplying the mass and velocity of the body together.
`P=mv`
If you have two bodies colliding (lets call them body x and body y), their total momentum is calculated by just adding them together.
`P_x_+_y=P_x+P_y`
Momentum is considered conserved if the momentum before is the same as the momentum after. In your first example, the total momentum of the blue and green object before the collision is 40`(kg*m)/(s)` . Afterwards it is still 40`(kg*m)/(s)` . Thus, momentum is conserved.
b) Once you understand that 'conserved' means 'the same total before and after', you can also see that in your first example, kinetic energy is conserved because the total kinetic energy before and after are the same.
alejandrogalarce | Student, Undergraduate | (Level 1) Valedictorian
a. The momentum is always conserved not matter what! It is the conservation of Momentum Law
`P_(i)= P_(f)`
b. Since `E_(K_i)!=E_(K_f)` the collision is inelastic.
The collision between the blue object and the green object is inelastic.
In an inelastic collision, the total kinetic energy of the system is not conserved.
*If we are talking about the totals, then:
In an elastic collision, the total kinetic of the system is conserved,
160 J = 160 J
90 J = 90 J
`E_(k_i)=E_(k_f)`