Jump to content

Need Feedback on my RQ and Question about Physics EE


hilaryvb

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone!

so basically i'm going to do a physics EE on momentum. its about recording the momentum preserved/lost after an inelastic collision with the mass as the dependent variable.

so here's my RQ: An investigation of the amount of momentum preserved/lost in an airtrack glider collision.

could i have some feedback or critics on the RQ? thanks. Also what is the Physics EE layout and what to write in each section? could anyone tell me or give me a link?

thanks :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cool. It sounds simple enough, so that's good. I think I know what an airtrack is [the ramp with very little, dare we say negligible, friction]. If you have a way of replicating these collisions and measuring kinetic energy lost by using a photogate or something, then that seems like it will work.

You can find a link to the Extended Essay guide as a part of the rules for starting a thread in this forum, but that link once again is http://www.ibsurvival.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=109 =) The guide will tell you exactly what to do.

Just wondering--are you planning on experimenting to see which types of materials conserve momentum better or anything of the sort? If you are [and I think this new angle may make the EE better] then your RQ should reflect this.

Link to post
Share on other sites

thank you for the answer :D

actually after a brief discussion with my supervisor, he said that the RQ should be like this:

An investigation of the amount of Kinetic Energy lost in an airtrack glider collision.

since momentum is conserved. well I dont investigate on which material, because that will be hard to keep the aerodynamic of the glider the same and also the mass, but just increase the air pressure coming out from the airtrack. I'll use the photogates and maybe I'll try to calculate the Kinetic energy dissipated into sound energy. anyone have equation for this?

or is it better to record the sound in Decibel, and see with how many KE is lost, then deduce a formula for it?

thanks

Link to post
Share on other sites

Haha oops. I should have noticed that. I'm not really picturing your set up because I'm used to using carts with wheels on airtracks and not gliders, but that doesn't really matter.

No, I don't know of an equation, but even if there was one, you'd still need to experimentally find it. An equation would provide a theoretical value, right? If such an equation exists for your conditions, then you could look at percent error. Sound is a good way to look at energy lost, but what about heat dissipation? Would you just relate leftover error due to thermal energy? I think looking at change in temperature would be ridiculous for obvious reasons, but would there be a significant change in dB? If your equipment is very sensitive, then great. I guess you could look at the change in velocity after a time period and find how many joules you've lost, but I don't know how you'd quantify the amount of energy lost to sound and heat.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...