Week 27 Reflection

This week in physics we started our new unit: momentum. Momentum is a property is an object that depends on mass and velocity (P=mv). We began discovering momentum by observing two cars on a ramp collide. We also observed them when the cars had altering masses to see how that would impact the speed and momentum of the car after the collision. It was concluded that if the cars have the same mass, then both cars would have the same velocity. However, when car A had twice the mass of car B, car B traveled twice as fast. And when car A had half the mass of car B, car B went half as fast. Ultimately, the different masses of the two cars greatly affects the velocities of the cars.

While masses can alter the velocities, the momentum before and after a collision is the same because the momentum from car A transfers to car B. This is how we can figure out the velocity of car B when we draw rectangle area diagrams. Because the momentum is the same, you can plug in the mass and solve for the velocity. In addition, we also learned that there are two types of collisions: bouncing and sticking. The bouncing collisions is when the cars stay separated, while sticking collisions result in the two cars staying connected to each other.

The assessment today (Friday) went really well, as it was extremely similar to the Unit 9 Worksheet 1 we worked on in class yesterday. I felt that I knew how to do the rectangle diagrams, calculate the momentum, and calculate the missing velocities accurately. Overall, I feel really good on the results of this assessment and I feel that I have a good understanding of the material so far in this unit.

Off to work on the Newton's cradle project this weekend, which deals with both our energy and momentum units. :)