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Material Detail

Conservation of Momentum in Different Inertial Frame -Collision

Conservation of Momentum in Different Inertial Frame -Collision

Newton's law of motion look the same to all observers in inertial frames of reference. It is equally true that if momentum is conserved in one inertial reference frame, it is conserved in all inertial frames. This java applet apply the above concept to one-dimentional collision problem.
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Material Type:
Animation
Date Added to MERLOT:
March 2, 1998
Date Modified in MERLOT:
June 5, 2017
Author:
 
Submitter:
Barbra Bied Sperling
Hispanic Serving Institution
Primary Audience:
College General Ed
Mobile Compatibility:
Not specified at this time
Language:
English
Cost Involved:
No
Source Code Available:
No
Accessibility Information Available:
Unknown
Creative Commons:
No

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Comments

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Barbra Bied Sperling
Barbra Bied Sperling (Administrator)
22 years ago
I worked with this applet for about half an hour. Although the applet
appearance is rather plain, it works well, and cleverly presents a topic not
easily described by text. The physics appears to be correct (e.g., momentum is
conserved, energy is conserved when it should be), even in the limits.
Calculations are done only to about 5 significant figures, so the velocity
values can be off somewhat after many collisions. There are minor grammatical
problems in the text, particularly in subject/verb agreement. Overall this
applet has a good potential to be effective in teaching the concepts of
collisions in different reference frames. Its effectiveness for self-study could
be substantially enhanced by including assignments or suggested items for
students to look at.

Technical Remarks:

The velocity of the center-of-mass is not displayed in the lab frame, and the velocity of the right barrier is not displayed in any of the other frames while running under Netscape 4.75. Each is displayed under IE 5.5.
John Walkup
John Walkup (Staff)
23 years ago
Simple, yet useful applet which demonstrates conservation of momentum and how it is related to reference frames. Students using this applet will need some guidance, as the explanations are somewhat sparse.