The task of our group was to try and find the mass of an object placed on a cart using our momentum equations. We were given a cart, a bag of salt (unknown mass), and capstone sensors.
Steps:
1. We knew that the mass of the empty cart was 0.5kg (Ma). We then measured the velocity of the cart so we found the Va.
2. From here we found the velocity of the cart with the bag of salt. (Vab)
3. Using the law of conservation of momentum.
mava + mbvb = (ma + mb)(Vab)
Evaluation and Manipulation of Data:
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| Diagram of our experiment. Drawing courtesy of Miranda Thompson (a group member) |
pbefore = pafter
mava + mbvb = (ma + mb)(Vab)
(0.5)(0.57) + (mb)(0) = (0.5 + mb)(0.24)
(0.28)+ 0 = .12 + .24mb
.28 - .12 = .24mb
.16 = .24mb
mb = .66kg
Conclusions:
The actual weight was .77kg, so we were a little off, but I think it's mostly due to lack of time to do a lot of trials for the velocity before and after. We took the average of 3 trial runs when calculating the velocity.
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