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=Conservation of momentum project=

Purpose: To develop an experiment to illustrate the conservation of momentum.
You will be working in groups of 3-4 and will have to develop and run an experiment that illustrates the conservation of momentum. Be careful when setting up your experiment. Most of the time while solving problems in class, we automatically set the total momentum before the collision equal to the total momentum after the collision. In this experiment you will have to measure the total momentum before and measure the total momentum after and compare your two results.

Requirements:
1. Write up that includes: a. A detailed explanation of your procedure (i.e.) what your experiment was and how you were going to collect data) b. A data table that shows all the data that you collected and shows the momentum before and after your collision or recoil c. Your conclusions 2. Video tape of the experiment. (note: you will be able to use video recorders during class) 3. Presentation of you project and conclusions to the class.

You will have two periods in class to work on your project and will be presenting the following day. You will need to turn in a pre-lab explaining your experiment and data collection procedure before you begin your experiment.

Pre-lab:
Your group needs to write a paragraph explaining what your group’s experiment will entail and how you plan on taking data. Be sure to include a list of equipment you will need and any safety precautions you will need to take. You will not be allowed to do any experiment that could cause harm to any person or property. Your pre-lab must be okayed by your teacher before you may begin your experiment.

Hints:
Also remember that the conservation of momentum only holds true if no outside force acts on the system. Most of the time, in real life there will be friction, which means that you will need to solve for the velocity immediately before and immediately after a collision and use that velocity (before friction has started to act). For most experiments, you will need to use vivfdat formulas to solve for velocities. The key to setting up an accurate experiment is finding the velocity correctly.

Measuring mass should be much easier. Use the electric balance or a bathroom scale and convert if necessary. (1kg mass weighs 2.2 lbs.)