Lab

Create a video of a collision or an explosion. The best way to do this is to record your video from above, with the event taking place on the floor. One example would be to roll one ball at another, and let them collide underneath the camera.

• there should be 2 to 4 moving objects involved. In the case of an explosion, your object should split apart into no more than 4 objects. In the case of a collision, no more than 4 objects should collide.

1. Create a short video of your collision/explosion. You will need at least 20 frames – 10 before, and 10 after, the event.
2. Convert your video to a format LoggerPro can use.

When you submit your lab, you need to submit both this document AND your converted video.

3. Track each moving object in your video, using video analysis. If an object does not move in the beginning, but does move in the end (or vice versa), track it for the entire video.
4. Create a calculated column for each object, in each dimension (x and y), for the momentum of the object. If you have 4 objects, that means you will have 8 new columns.
5. Create a calculated column for the total momentum of the system of objects, in each dimension (one for x and one for y).
6. Create a graph with the x-components of the momenta of all the objects vs. time. Also put the x-component of the total momentum of the system vs. time on this graph. For every momentum on your graph, find the mean. Copy and paste your graph here, with the statistics shown:
7. Create a graph with the y-components of the momenta of all the objects vs. time. Also put the y-component of the total momentum of the system vs. time on this graph. For every momentum on your graph, find the mean. Copy and paste your graph here, with the statistics shown:
8. Create a graph of velocity vs. time for each component of each moving object. Find the mean and standard deviation of each line before the collision/explosion. Separately, find the mean and standard deviation of each line after the collision/explosion. Put your answers in the table below.

9. Use this information as well as the mass information from the beginning of the lab to find the mean and uncertainty in each component of the momentum of each object, both before and after the collision/explosion. Put your answers in the table below, and show ONE sample calculation (not all of them!) here:

10. Use this information to find the mean and uncertainty in each component of the total momentum of the system, both before and after the collision/explosion. Show all of your work here:

11. The Impulse-Momentum Theorem, when used with the Impulse Approximation, states that the total momentum of the system in a collision or explosion should not change. Using your results, explain whether or not your experiment agrees with this.