🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 23 Dec 1994, Bob Siskind wrote:

> I use some home made photogates with vernier software and air tracks to
> measure momenta before and after inelastic collisions.  I found that I
> got the best results when 0.5M collided into 1.0M and the worst results
> when the two carts had the same mass.  My worst results have about a 20%
> error and my best results run around 2 or 3%.
>                                 Bob Siskind
>
We modified the old PSSC Brick and Cart lab and used a smart pulley to
determine the velocity before and after we dropped from .1 to .5 kg onto
Pasco Carts.  The students spent some time adjusting the track to
compensate for friction and the mass on the end of the string that
connected the cart and pulley.  Errors were up to 10%.  I did not notice
any relationship between size of error and the relative masses of the
cart(and its included mass) and the mass that was dropped on the cart.
We made a box that fit the cart.  We dropped the masses into the box.
There were lots of interesting wiggles in the graph of V vs T at the time
the mass made contact with the cart.

Al Gibson
Rochester Adams High School
Rochester Hills, MI

PS We are having problems with our smart pulleys