E202: CONSERAVTION OF MOMENTUM: THE BALLISTIC PENDULUM

PALERO JR., Dante M.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this experiment is to apply PROCEDURE:
the principles of energy and momentum A. Ballistic Pendulum, Initial Velocity
conservation by finding the velocity of the 1. Measure the height of the
moving object to be collided to another pendulum bob from the table to its
object and to validate its initial velocity using center and let it as y₁. The
projectile motion. pendulum must be on 0º angle or
in vertical position.
The system is called isolated system is if it
does not interact to its environment or no
outside forces acting on it except the system
itself. As the two objects collide in an
isolated system, the momentum is
conserved. Momentum is best describe as
“mass in motion”. In this experiment, to
illustrate the conservation of energy and
momentum, a ballistic pendulum, an
apparatus used to measure the speed of
bullet, is to be used.

2. Lift the pendulum bob and carefully

MATERIALS AND METHODS load the steel ball inside the spring
1 set ballistic pendulum with acessories gun by holding the trigger to avoid
1 pc meter stick premature fire. After loading the
steel ball, fire it by pulling the
string perpendicularly to the spring
gun.
 3. Record the displacement of angle Measure the height of the spring
and measure the maximum height gun from the floor.
of the pendulum bob as it swings
from the table to the center of the
pendulum bob. Take this as your
y₂.

3. Fire the steel ball five times and

measure the horizontal distance in
4. Repeat the procedure 5 times and every trial. Compute the velocity of
record the angle displacement and the steel ball by using equation
vertical height in every trials. (7).
5. Solve for y by getting the
difference between y₂ and y₁ and
𝑔
solve for velocity of the steel ball 𝑣1 = 𝑥√
2𝑦
and pendulum bob after collision
using the formula (4).

𝑢 = √2𝑔𝑦

6. Compute now for the initial velocity

of the steel ball before the collision
using formula (5).

𝑚1 + 𝑚2
𝑣1 = √2𝑔𝑦
𝑚1

B. Trajectory, Initial Velocity

1. Lock the pendulum upward to fire
the ball horizontally without any
obstruction.
2. Position the spring gun at the end
of the table. Set a carbon paper
and a bond paper to the calculated
range where the steel ball will land.
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OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS

Table 1. Getting the Initial Velocity of the Steel Ball, Ballistic Method

mass of the steek ball, m1= 65.875 g mass of the pendulum, m2= 246.1 g

Trial Angle

1 37° Initial height of the pendulum y1 = 7.7 cm

2 37° Final height of the pendulum y2 = 13.8 cm

Increase in height,
3 37.5° y = 6.1 cm
𝑦 = 𝑦2 − 𝑦1

Velocity of the steel ball and the

pendulum right after collision,
4 37.5° u = 109.343 cm/s
𝑢 = √2𝑔𝑦

Velocity of the pendulum before

5 37.5° v2 = 0 cm/s
collision

Velocity of the steel ball before

collision,
Average angle: 37.3° v1 = 517.84 cm/s
𝑚1 + 𝑚2
𝑣1 = √2𝑔𝑦
𝑚1

Sample computations

Increase in height Velocity of steel ball and pendulum Velocity of the steel ball before collision

𝑦 = 𝑦2 − 𝑦1 right after collision 𝑚1 + 𝑚2

𝑣1 = √2𝑔𝑦
𝑚1
𝑦 = 13.8𝑐𝑚 − 7.7𝑐𝑚 𝑢 = √2𝑔𝑦
65.875𝑔 + 246.1𝑔 𝑐𝑚
𝑦 = 6.1𝑐𝑚 𝑣1 = (109.343 )
𝑐𝑚 65.875𝑔 𝑠
𝑢 = √2 (980 ) (6.1𝑐𝑚)
𝑠2 𝑐𝑚
𝑣1 = 517.836
𝑐𝑚 𝑠
𝑢 = 109.343
𝑠

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Table 2. Getting the Initial Velocity of the Steel Ball, Trajectory Method

Gravitational constant , g = 980 cm/s2

TRIAL Horizontal Distance, x

Height from the reference point to
1 215.3 cm y = 88.6 cm
the ground
2 215.3 cm

3 216.5 cm
Velocity of the steel ball before
4 214.8 cm collision,
v1 = 507.073 cm/s
5 216.2 cm 𝑔
𝑣1 = 𝑥√
2𝑦
Average x: 215.62 cm

Sample computations

Velocity of the steel ball before collision

𝑔
𝑣1 = 𝑥 √
2𝑦

𝑐𝑚
980
𝑣1 = 215.62𝑐𝑚√ 𝑠2
2(88.6𝑐𝑚)
𝑐𝑚
𝑣1 = 507.073
𝑠

Table 3. Determining th ePercentage Difference

Percentage Difference,

|𝐸𝑉1 − 𝐸𝑉2 | Percent Difference = 2.1%

% 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇 = × 100%
𝐸𝑉 + 𝐸𝑉
( 1 2 2)

Sample computations

Percent difference

|𝐸𝑉1 − 𝐸𝑉2 |
% 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇 = × 100%
𝐸𝑉 + 𝐸𝑉2
( 1 )
2
|517.836 − 507.073|
% 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇 = × 100%
517.536 + 507.073
( )
2
% 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇 = 2.1%
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DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION can conclude that the momentum of the
system is conserved.
Conservation of momentum in a collision can
be define as the total momentum before the Sources of errors may occur during the
collision is equal to the total momentum release of the steel ball if your hand is not
after the collision. In the experiment, the perpendicular to the spring gun because the
change in momentum of the steel ball before impact of the release would not be solid.
and after the collision is equal and opposite Another is always check if the steel ball is
to the change in momentum of the properly positioned inside the barrel before
pendulum bob. That is, the momentum that firing to have a constant force to be applied.
is lost in the steel ball at the time of the Other than that, the spring gun and
collision was gained by the pendulum bob. pendulum bob are considered to be accurate
So, the momentum loss of the steel ball is and human errors may occur as said above.
equal to the momentum gain of the Miscalculations and measurement errors or
pendulum bob. Thus, the initial velocity of readings may also be the sources of errors
steel ball before the collision is equal to the during the experiment.
velocity of the pendulum swing after the
collision. Not only was the conservation of
momentum observed, but also the
conservation of energy. The potential energy
from the pendulum bob transforms to kinetic
energy at the moment of collision then it was
converted to gravitational potential energy
when it stops after it swing in the air. The
kinetic energy released from the spring gun
transferred to the ball then to the pendulum
bob are all equal or constant and just
transformed to another form.

Based on the data we have gathered, the

law of conservation of momentum was
verified. To prove, the initial velocity of the
steel ball before the collision using ballistic
method should be approximately the same
as its velocity using trajectory method.
Based on the definition of conservation of
momentum, the momentum is as the same
before and after the collision. Its initial
velocity using ballistic method is 517.84
cm/s and its velocity using trajectory method
is 507.073 cm/s. Having a percent difference
of 2.1%, our experiment is acceptable. We

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT & REFERENCE

I thank our professor, Mr. Ricardo De Leon,

providing us the knowledge and ideas and
for assisting us to complete this report. I
really hope I could learn a lot of thigs from
you and hope to see you on my other
Physics class in the future.

I also would like to thank my groupmates

namely Mhiera De Guzman, Kim Aguinaldo,
Kenneth Gonzales, Patrisha Gonzales, and
Daniel Valmocena, for the cooperation,
stimulating discussions, and for the fun I
have during our experiments.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family for

the undying support for me financially,
emotionally, physically and spiritually.

REFERENCES

http://hyperphysics.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/conser.html#conamo

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/ene
rgy/u5l1b.cfm

 Used for discussion and conclusion

Mapua Institute of Technology Physics 11

Laboratory manual

Principle of Physics 10th edition

By Walker, Halliday, Resnick

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