- Level: International Baccalaureate
- Subject: Physics
- Word count: 1516
Conservation of Momentum Experiment.
Extracts from this document...
Introduction
Data Collection and Processing:
- [Data Table #1]Final Lab Data(Raw):
Cue Puck | Stationary Puck | |
Mass of Puck ±1g | 553 | 551 |
Angle of Movement ±0.1° | 39.0 [S of E] | 40.0 [N of E] |
Average Initial Length Between Dots ±0.01cm | 1.40 | N/A (Stationary) |
Average Final Length Between Dots ±0.01cm | 0.88 | 0.90 |
Frequency of Spark Timer | 50Hz | 50Hz |
- Since the spark timer used in the lab was set at 50Hz per second, 50 dots are made for every second-which also means that one dot is 1/50th of a second, the velocity of the two pucks can be determined from this relationship with the use of
, (to reduce rounding errors, all momentum calculations will be done in the base unit give: 
) :
Average Initial Velocity of Cue Puck in the 
Direction: 
Average Final Velocity of Cue Puck: 
Average Final Velocity of Stationary Puck: 
Propagation of Uncertainties for Velocity of Pucks:
Uncertainty of Ruler: ±0.01cm:
Average Initial Velocity:
Cue Puck: 
=1.136…%
Stationary Puck: N/A No Movement
Average Final Velocity:
Cue Puck: 
Stationary Puck:
=0.90%
Uncertainty of Mass of Puck: 1.0g:
Cue Puck: 
Stationary Puck: 
Final Percent Uncertainty for Average Initial Velocity of Cue Puck: 1.136…%+0.180…%=1.317%
Final Percent Uncertainty for Average Initial Velocity of Stationary Puck: N/A No Movement
Final Percent Uncertainty for Average Final Velocity of Cue Puck: 0.714…%+0.180…%=0.895%
Final Percent Uncertainty for Average Final Velocity of Stationary Puck: 0.90%+0.18145=1.081%
We can now convert the percent uncertainties into absolute uncertainties:
Final Abs. Uncertainty for Average Initial Velocity of Cue Puck:
= 0.
Middle
Average Initial Length Between Dots ±0.01cm
...read more.
1.40
N/A (Stationary)
Average Final Length Between Dots ±0.01cm
0.88
0.90
Frequency of Spark Timer
50Hz
50Hz
Avg Initial Velocity (x Direction)
70.00±
cm/s
N/A (Stationary)
Avg Final Velocity
44.00±0.39cm/s
45.00±0.49cm/s
The Experiment Can Be Summarized By The Following Diagram:
Both the x and y directions needs to be considered in order to solve this question:
Subscript c will represent the cue puck and Subscript s will represent the stationary puck.
If friction in the system can be ignored:
∑Pi=∑Pf
X: Pcx+Psx= Pcx1+Psx1
Y: Pcy+Psy= Pcy1+Psy1
Calculation: | Diagram: | |
Pcx = mcvc |
|
Conclusion
Experiment Improvements:
The human errors can be reduced to a minimum if we use a type of a launcher that applies to equivalent strength to the puck which will allow the air puck to travel throughout the surface of the paper with uniform speed, the launch would also eliminate the excess y component and give us a more accurate result. The surface of the paper can be improved with the use of paper with smoother surfaces; this would produce a better data paper for us to do measurements with. To eliminate the friction at the point of contact, we could use ring magnets with opposite poles around the pucks, this would eliminate the contact of the two pucks and ultimately take friction away. I think we could have done a combination of things better, if I were to design the lab again, I would create a apparatus with a camera mounted on top, which is programmed to take pictures for every time interval along with the improvements I have listed above, the pucks would be placed along the lines of a scale (Meter stick, measuring tape…etc.) There will also be a spark timer for the physical data. This way we will have a physical and digital data, we can always look back at the digital data (digital data should be more accurate) and compare it with the physical data, this will make the experiment nearly perfect.
This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Physics section.
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