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Description
There are two masses that can collide elastically - both momentum AND
kinetic energy are conserved. You can specify the initial velocities and
masses for each mass. (The arrow buttons near the initial values will
double or half the values. If you manually change a value {not using the
arrows}, click the UPDATE button.)
Question:
Set both masses equal, and M2 at rest. How does the final velocity
of M2 compare tot he intial velocity of M1? Answer : The same!
(The two masses "trade" momenta.)
Question:
With unequal masses, and one mass at rest, can the colliding mass
ever stop after the collsion? Answer : No, if the colliding mass
is bigger, it will go in the same direction as the hit mass .. if it is
smaller, it will bounce back.
Question:
With one mass at rest, as the mass of the incoming mass increases,
how do the final velocities of each mass relate to the initial velocity of
the incoming mass? Answer : As the incoming mass gets bigger ..
it's velocity stays about the same {slightly less}, and the other mass's
velocity will start to approach twice the initial velocity!
Question:
Set both masses equal, and set the masses moving toward each other
but with different velocities. How do the final velocities compare to the
initial velocities? Answer : The two masses trade velocities
(essentially they trade momentum!)
Note:Just after the collision, depending on the values chosen, there may be some spurious velocity values (an artifact of the physlet calculations) - after the next time step, the expected final velocities will be the expected constant values.
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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