Question

Complete the lab and answer the questions in the essay box below. What happens to the cart? Was an external force acting on the cart? What was the momentum of the cart before the "explosion"? What was the momentum of the cart after the "explosion"? Do discrepancies exist? Look at where m1d1 equals -m2d2 and where they are not quite equal. How would you account for the slight error involved? What was the momentum before the explosion? Having explained the reason for the slight discrepancies, under ideal conditions (no friction), what would be the momentum of the system after the explosion? A stick of dynamite is placed in the center of a pile of rocks and ignited. What is the total momentum of all the pieces after the explosion?

Answer 1

In an inelastic collision or explosion, momentum is conserved but kinetic energy increases. Slight discrepancies in momentum calculations can be attributed to measurement errors or external forces like friction. Under ideal conditions, the momentum of the system before and after the explosion would be the same.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking about the momentum of a cart before and after an 'explosion'. In the case of an inelastic collision, like an explosion, the momentum is conserved. However, the kinetic energy is not conserved as it increases after the explosion. The slight discrepancies in momentum calculations can be attributed to errors in measurement or external forces like friction in real-world situations.

Under ideal conditions with no friction, the momentum of the system after the explosion would be the same as the momentum before the explosion.

In the case of a stick of dynamite exploding in a pile of rocks, the total momentum of all the pieces after the explosion would also be equal to the momentum before the explosion.