Physics 105

April 30, 2003

Today we will finish the analysis of our collision experiments. We will focus in detail on the actual deformation of the cans. It is reasonable to assume that the energy required to deform the cans increases with increasing deformation. The first two models we will consider to relate the deformation to the loss of kinetic energy make the following assumptions:

Use all 18 collisions to determine whether or not the observed correlations can be described by these models. If not, can you develop another model which can describe the data we collected?

The final lab report is due on Monday next week, May 5, and should describe the collision experiment, the video analyses you carried out (including how you estimated the velocities before and after the collision and how you determined the errors), and your conclusions about the models we studied to describe the deformation of the can in terms of the loss of kinetic energy. For this latter analysis you should include all the data we collected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The lab report should be written at a level such that a non-science undergraduate student (who did not take this course) can understand what you have done.

The lab report should be submitted in electronic format (e.g. as a WORD file) and will be posted on the WEB (I will take care of the conversion to html). The graphs obtained in the video analysis of the collisions can be copied and pasted into a WORD document, by using the copy/past options in VideoPoint and WORD. You might want to consider doing that in class today, since you will not have access to VideoPoint outside the class room (at least not in a reliable manner).

NOTE: This lab report will be a very important lab report in which you can show how you have developed from a non-scientist to a great scientist during the last few months! Make sure it is perfect (do not forget error estimates, properly labeled graphs, etc.).

© Frank L. H. Wolfs, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA

Last updated on Wednesday, April 23, 2003 4:39