In this lesson students will use a NetLogo model to analyze the 1-Dimensional collision of 2 cars that is completely elastic, i.e., Kinetic Energy is conserved. 

Students will determine the following:

1. How does impulse compare to the change in momentum for an individual car in a collision of 2 cars.

2. How does the momentum of an individual car compare before and after the collision of 2 cars.

3. How does the kinetic energy of an individual car compare before and after the collision of 2 cars.

4. How does the analysis change if both cars are combined into a 2-car system. Both cars will be used to produce a single result.

Students will determine in which case(s) {1-car system, 2-car system, both, or none} the momentum and kinetic energy are considered to be conserved, i.e., the same before and after the collision.

The NGSS standard: HS-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

The NGSS standard: HS-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.

Created by Neil Schmidgall