Demonstrations

Elastic & Inelastic Collision of Solids - Air Track

Code Number :	1N30.30
Disclaimer:	Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website. The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources. Further information regarding legal liability in use of demonstrations and labs will be found on the web site Injuries in School/College Laboratories in USA. The University of Iowa Disclaimers: U of Iowa Disclaimer All Rights Reserved..
Condition :	Good
Principle :	Conservation of Linear Momentum
Area of Study :	Mechanics
Equipment :	Air track, Cars for air track (assorted), Magnetic cars for air track (2).
Procedure :	The air track should be cleaned with a soft cloth and alcohol or acetone. Assemble the cars as desired by inserting springs or magnets into the end mounting of the cars. The spring loaded timer cars may also be altered in this fashion. For this demonstration to work effectively the two cars that are being collided need to have different magnets. One car should have a large magnet and this car should also be the non-moving car. This is due to the fact that the large magnet has a significant amount of magnetic damping. The moving car should have a small magnet.

Web Sites

Collision Simulation Applets.

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/nsf/mo.html

References

"Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 46, # 4, April 2008, p. 245.

Deb Funk, "Elastic Collisions with Two Moving Objects Made Simple", TPT, Vol. 44, # 2, Feb. 2006, p. 80.

Xueli Zou, "Making 'Internal Thermal Energy' Visible", TPT, Vol. 42, # 6, Sept. 2004, p. 343.

Hasan Fakhruddin, "Maximizing Imparted Speed in Elastic Collisions," TPT, Vol. 41, # 6, Sept. 2003, p. 338.

Hui Hu, 'More on One-Dimensional Collisions", TPT, Vol. 40, # 2, Feb. 2002, p. 72.

Kurt T. Loveland, "Simple Equations for Linear Partially Elastic Collisions", TPT, Vol. 38, # 6, Sept. 2000, p. 380.

C.T. Tindle, "An Intuitive Approach to Collisions", TPT, Vol. 36, # 6, Sept. 1998, p. 344.

A. P. French, " 'Intuitively Obvious'?", TPT, Vol. 36, # 8, Nov. 1998, p. 353.

Chris Tindle, "Tindle Responds", TPT, Vol. 36, # 8, Nov. 1998, p. 454.

L. Edward Millet, "The One-Dimensional Elastic-Collision Equation: n_f = 2n_c -n_i", TPT, Vol. 36, # 3, Mar. 1998, p. 186.

Irina E. Lyublinskaya, "Central Collisions - the General Case", TPT, Vol. 36, # 1, Jan. 1998, p. 18.

Cathy Abbot, "Pretty Cool" Collision Experiment", TPT, Vol. 35, # 7, Oct. 1997, p. 397.

P. Roura, "Collision Duration in the Elastic Regime," TPT, Vol. 35, # 7, p. 435- 436, Oct. 1997.

Ian R. Gatland, "Relative Speed in Elastic Collision", TPT, Vol. 33, # 2, Feb. 1995, p. 98.

Uri Ganiel, "Elastic and Inelastic Collisions: A Model (or What Happens to the Kinetic Energy?)", TPT, Vol. 30, # 1, Jan. 1992, p. 18.

Nicholas E. Brown, "Impulsive Thoughts on Some Elastic Collisions", TPT, Vol. 23, # 7, Oct. 1985, p. 421 - 422.

R. H. Romer, "Matrix Description of Collisions on an Air Track", AJP, Vol. 35, # 9, Sept. 1967, p. 862.

Md- 3, 4, Mg- 3, 4: Freier and Anderson, A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

Mail Questions and Comments to: Dale Stille