8.2 Elastic Collisions in One Dimension Conservation of Momentum in Different Inertial Frames |
| Instructions: Click on the "Start Simulation" button to open the applet window. You can change the velocity of the masses by positioning the mouse cursor over the velocity vector and dragging. The selected values are shown. You can increase the value of a mass by clicking on it with the right mouse button and decrease it by clicking on it with the left mouse button. The coefficient of restitution "eta" and the viewing frame of reference can be selected from pull down menus. Navigation: You can come back to this window by pressing the "Close Simulation" button on the bottom frame of the utility. |
| Explanation: This applet allows you to simulate all sorts of collisions between two objects and between an object and a wall. It can help you simulate most of the situations discussed in sections 7.4 and 8.2. A value of "1" for eta makes the collision perfectly elastic, a value of "0" makes it perfectly inelastic. Note that momentum is conserved in all inertial frames of reference. |
Source: Go to the web site and link to the Online Library for further information. |