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Description
This animation is an extension of the previous animation
momenta1 where you picked the final velocity
of the one of the masses. Now we are going to choose the initial kinetic
energy given to the masses in the explosion. We can also change the values
of the masses.
Question
With equal masses, what is the relationship between the final
velocities and the initial KE?
Answer: The final velocities are equal
{because of the equal masses}, and proportional to the square root of the
KE. (For example, try m1=m2=10, KE=10 .. then KE=40.)
Question
With unequal masses, what is the relationship between the final
velocities?
Answer: The final velocities are unequal -
the larger mass having the smaller velocity - to conserve momentum. Also,
4 times the KE will give 2 times the final velocities
Question
If M2 is much much bigger than M1, what do you notice about the
velocity of M1 as you increase the KE?
Answer: Since the momentum is conserved ..
the more you increase M2, the smaller it's final velocity will be, thus it
will only take a small portion of the KE .. thus the KE of M1 is very
close to the initial KE.
Note: You might notice that in the first time-step after the explosion, the velocities shown are half of their final velocities - this is an artifact of the way the physlet does its calculations (think of it as still part of the explosion phase until they fully separate). It is the final velocities that we care about.
Related Physlets :
Conservation
of Momentum - Energy to Separate (momenta1)
Setting
the Explosion energy between two masses (momenta2e)
Conservation
of Momentum - 2 Mass Elastic Collision (momenta3)
Conservation
of Momentum - 2 Mass Inelastic Collision (momenta3c)
Conservation
of Momentum - 2 Mass Inelastic Collision - Center of Mass Technique
(momenta4)
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