Activity 7.

Conservation Principles
Date:____________________________

Name of group members:_______________________

Two most important conservation principles in physics are the principles of conservation
of energy and momentum. Whenever a system or body undergoes a change in its state of
motion through the action of external forces, these principles holds to be true and can be
basically applied to analyse the behaviour of these changes. For example, an object dropped a
certain height from rest has both initial potential (P.E. = mgh) and kinetic energy (K.E. = 0).
When it reaches a point h along its way down (Figure 7.A), the object will have both Potential
(P.E. = mgh) and Kinetic energy (K.E. = mv2). In the process, the energies of the system
undergo a transformation or change. This total change is conserved, accordingly,
. This is what we call conservation of energy principle.
Moreover, the object in Figure 7.A undergoes a change in its momentum with the
constant action of gravity and perhaps with air resistance, hence, the momentum of the system
is increasing on its way down. On the other hand, in a collision scene (Figure 7.B), the total
momentum change in the system (here consisting of two objects A and B) is given as
. This is what we call conservation of linear momentum principle
(Moore, 2003).
Your task in this experiment is to show that these two principle (conservation of energy
and momentum) hold in a collision scene. Also, you will determine the relationship between
mass and momentum of a system.
P.E = mgh,
KE = 0; v=0
h

vA

A
P.E = mgh,
KE = mv2
B

vA
A

Figure 7.A. Object dropped from a height h

Materials:
Procedure:

Figure 7.B. Collision between to objects

Linear air track and accessories, timer/stopwatch, weights

A. Relationship between mass, velocity, and momentum

1. Set the linear air track and allow the glider to glide on the track.
2. Measure the mass of the glider and record this as M.
3. Make the glider glide on the track and measure total time travel until it bumps on
the other end of the track.
4. Record this in Table 6.1.
5. Now add 20 g on the glider and make it glide. Record the total time of travel until it
bumps the other end of the track.
6. Do the same by adding 40g, 60g, 80g, and 100 g on the glider block. Record the
corresponding mass and the total time of travel.
7. Determine the momentum of the system in each part.

Conservation Principles

B. Conservation of energy and momentum

1. Again, set the linear air and allow the glider to glide along the track.
2. Make the glider glide on the track and measure total time travel until it bumps on
the other end of the track.
3. Measure also the total time of travel it takes for the maximum distance reached by
the glider after bouncing.
4. Make five (5) trials. Record your data in Table 7.2.
5. Calculate the velocity of the glider using conservation of energy and momentum
relation.
Data:
Table 7.1 Mass, velocity, and momentum relation
M = mass of the glider = __________________grams
Added weights to
M (g)
0
20 g
40 g
60 g
80 g
100 g

Total time travel

(seconds)

Total distance
travelled (cm)

Velocity of the
system (cm/s)

Momentum
(g.cm/s)

Table 7.2 Using conservation of energy and momentum

Trial

T (sec)

D (cm)

T (sec)

D (cm)

Vexp
(cm/s)

vcalc (cm/s)

1
2
3
4
5
-

Average
unprimed means before bouncing ; primed are data after bouncing.

Questions:
1. Describe the relationship between mass, velocity, and momentum according to your
data in part A.

2. Calculate the percentage difference between v (exp) and v (calc) from part B. How do
you resolve your results? How do you account the differences between your results?

3. Calculate the coefficient of restitution in part B.

Conclusion: