Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to prove that energy and angular momentum are both conserved.
Apparatus:
Theory:
This collision can be divided into three parts. The first part would be a conservation of energy, with the meter having some gravitational potential energy while it's horizontal and then some angular and linear kinetic energy right before it hits the clay. When the collision occurs, momentum is conserved. Immediately after, both the clay and meter stick together will rise to some height, and energy is conserved.
Data:
The point of maximum height
Masses
Calculations/Graph:
Theoretical height of the stick-clay system
Graph and Actual Height
Analysis:
Because we assume that energy and momentum is conserved, this calculation can be done. From the points on the x and y graphs, it can be seen that the points sort of follow a pattern and kind of match up to the appropriate places. Since it is an inelastic collision, the velocity after would certainly be less than the velocity before, and the slopes of the y prove just so.
Conclusion:
Our numbers match up quite well, being almost exactly the same. It is less than a 1% error. This proves that energy and momentum are both conserved. Places of uncertainty and error may be in video capture as well as calculation roundings.
For the first calculation, ∆h of cm is 0.4 m rather than 0.9.
ReplyDeleteAnd all of the KE is rotational, so there isn't a 1/2 mv^2 term.
For the last calculation as written, the ∆h would be for the center of mass rather than the end of the meter stick.