The Ballistic Pendulum

Mb = .066kg
Mc = .174 kg
h = .027m

Velocity after the collision

V f = 2 gh

V f = 2 9.8
m
s
.027 m=.727
m
s

Kinetic Energy
Immediately after the collision the ball and catcher have kinetic energy given by
1 2
Kinetic E= ( M b+ M c ) V f
2
.727


1
Kinetic E= (.066+.174)
2

Potential Energy:
At the top of the swing, the kinetic energy is zero and the potential energy is given by
PE = (mb + mc)gh

PE = (0.066 + 0.174)*9.8*0.27 = 0.0635 J

Momentum:
Immediately after the collision momentum is given by
pafter = (mb + mc) vf

pafter = (0.066kg + 0.174 kg)*0.727 = 0.17448

Velocity before the collision

 Momentum is conserved in the collision, pbefore = pafter, and therefore velocity before the
collision is given by
vbefore = (mb + mc) vafter/mb

vbefore = pafter/ mb = 0.17448/0.066 = 2.64 m/s

% Error
| KEP|
error = 100
P
|0.06340.0635|
error = 100=0.157
0.0635

Conclusion & Analysis:

Total momentum is always conserved, in both elastic and inelastic collisions when there are no
net external forces involved, but total kinetic energy is only conserved in elastic collisions
In the first step, when the ball collides with the cup, one expects linear momentum to be
conserved considering no external forces are involved i.e. air resistance etc. are negligible.

In the second, when the pendulum recoils and swings up, one expects mechanical energy to be
conserved as the initial kinetic energy of the pendulum is transformed into potential energy.
(Note that mechanical energy is NOT conserved in the inelastic collision when the ball is trapped
in the cup.) So, for both of these processes one will use the appropriate conservation principle to
Calculate the different values.