Planetoids with Momentum
Physics
Advanced HS
Javascript
In a typical college physics course you will at some point encounter the idea of conservation of momentum. Momentum conservation is very important! In situations where two objects collide, we often don’t know the force or acceleration as a function of time, but we do know the initial velocities. If we know the type of collision that occurs, it turns out that the initial velocities and the masses of the objects are all we need to figure out the final velocities.
Links to Activity
Learning Objectives
At the end of this lesson students will…
- Apply conservation of momentum equations in 1-D to properly code a perfectly inelastic collision.
- Apply conservation of momentum equations in 2-D along with basic geometry to properly code a perfectly inelastic collision.