A Better 2-D Mechanical Energy

Conservation Experiment
Michael Paesler, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

A
variety of simple classical mechanics energy conser- The curricular problem with many mechanical energy
vation experiments are used in teaching laboratories. conservation laboratories that involve rolling components
Typical one-dimensional (1-D) setups may involve lies in the fact that, in most cases, rotational motion has not
falling balls or oscillating springs. Many of these can be quite been introduced into the curriculum when these laboratories
satisfying in that students can confirm—within a few percent are performed. The fraction of kinetic energy in a rolling ball,
—that mechanical energy is conserved. Students generally for example, must then be brought into student analysis in an
have little trouble identifying discrepancies such as the loss ad hoc fashion. This is both quantitatively unsatisfying to the
of a few percent of the gravitational potential energy due to student and pedagogically unsound.
air friction encountered by a falling ball. Two-dimensional Furthermore loss mechanisms in many 2-D systems are
(2-D) systems can require more sophisticated analysis for manifest in the fact that most such experiments are not quiet,
higher level laboratories, but such systems often incorporate thus indicating at least one dissipative sink: sound. Air resis-
complicating components that can make the exercise aca- tance and even heating of tracks and carts can likewise result
demically incomplete and experimentally less accurate. The in nonconservative inclusions. Indeed, when allowed to oscil-
following describes a simple 2-D energy conservation experi- late between final and initial positions, most such laboratory
ment based on the popular “Newton’s Cradle” toy that allows experiments lose as much as half of their amplitude in three or
students to account for nearly all of the mechanical energy in four cycles.
the system in an academically complete analysis.
A “Newton’s Cradle” solution
The problem We have developed a 2-D student laboratory that introduc-
The elementary physics curriculum often has treated one- es translational mechanical energy conservation in a manner
and two-dimensional dynamics before presenting energy that substantively avoids both of the pitfalls described above.
conservation. Rotational motion usually follows these topics General physics students in a sophomore-level university
in the curricular sequence. When energy conservation is con- course regularly using this equipment often account for en-
sidered in two-dimensional arenas, student laboratories quite ergy losses on the order of 2%—far less than previous setups
commonly resemble either commercially available “Roller used in our laboratory. In addition they need not consider
Coaster” experiments1 or simple “Ball in Track” experiments.2 topics beyond what they have already covered in class.
Experiences in our teaching laboratories find that students Newton’s Cradle (Fig. 1) is a popular desktop toy often
must deal with ad hoc curricular considerations as well as ap- used to demonstrate energy and momentum conservation.
preciable energy losses when performing quantitative studies In the ideal cradle, collisions involving balls of equal mass on
using such equipment. separate pendulums are quite elastic, and intriguing motion

Fig. 2. Experimental setup. Components

Fig. 1. Newton’s Cradle. include: pendulum ball (1); struck ball (2); lat-
eral micrometer adjustment (3); “golf tee” (4);
height adjustment dial (5); thread (6); protrac-
tor (7); bearings (8); stainless rods (9); leveling
screws (10); and level (11).

DOI: 10.1119/1.3677288 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 50, February 2012 109
can result when balls are set in motion. In our laboratory ver- When the balls collide, if the collision is elastic, this energy
sion, only two balls of nearly equal mass are involved. A ball is is fully transferred as kinetic energy to the struck ball as E1,
welded to two thin stainless rods that are attached to bearings where
so as to form a relatively low-loss pendulum (Fig. 2), wherein
this pendulum ball follows a circular arc and is not allowed to (2)
twist as it swings through the arc.3 The pendulum ball is held
at its highest position by a thread strung through a tiny eyelet and v is the horizontal velocity of the struck ball. It is pre-
on the ball. To start the ball in motion, a match is used to sever sumed here that m is the identical mass of both of the balls.
the thread.4 The struck ball will leave the apparatus horizontally at a
An untethered struck ball is placed on a tiny machined height h above the floor and will arrive at the floor at a time
“golf tee” such that a collision occurs when the pendulum ball t, where simple kinematics allows one to write
is exactly at the bottom of its swing. The collision that results (3)
when the pendulum ball arrives at the bottom of its arc causes
the struck ball to fly off of its perch in a “knuckle ball” that in- Exploiting energy conservation as expressed in Eq. (1) and
volves no spinning. The “golf tee” is machined to be as small as Eq. (2) and using the time determined from Eq. (3), one can
possible to hold the struck ball. Because it is small, any torque predict d, the horizontal distance the struck ball will travel be-
delivered to the struck ball as it leaves the tee is minimized. fore arriving at the floor, as
With these precautions, rotational energy can be essentially
(4)
eliminated from consideration in the subsequent analysis.
In order to achieve pure translational motion of the pro- The accuracy to which mechanical energy is conserved in
jectile ball, the balls must touch at the exact bottom of the this experiment can be ascertained by comparing the predict-
swinging ball’s arc and in such a way that the line connecting ed distance dp, as determined using the initial condition (the
the center of the two balls at collision is in both the plane of angle q), to the measured distance dm, directly determined
the arc and in a horizontal plane. To achieve this precision: upon performing the experiment.
i) leveling screws and a small circular level are used to assure
that the collision point is at the bottom of the swing; ii) a mi- Results
crometer adjusts the position of the “golf tee” in a direction In student laboratories, the four separate angles above are
perpendicular to the plane of the pendulum’s arc to ensure used in four test runs. The predicted and measured values of
that the struck ball travels in a path coplanar with that arc; and d can then be compared. A typical data set is reproduced as
iii) a screw adjusts the height of the “golf tee” to insure that the Table I.
struck ball leaves the tee along an initially horizontal path.
Table I. Typical student result table.
The struck ball flies off of the lab bench and arrives at the
floor, where its position is recorded when it strikes a piece of q measured dm predicted dp % error
carbon paper, leaving a small dot on a piece of paper lying on 15° 1.03 m 1.06 m -2.9%
the floor.
30° 1.41 m 1.43 m -1.4%
Parameters measured before the experiment is performed
are L, the length of the pendulum, and h, the height of the col- 45° 1.62 m 1.65 m -1.9%
lision point above the floor level. Variables measured when 60° 1.89 m 1.95 m -3.2%
the experiment is performed include q, the angle from the ver-
tical above which the swinging ball’s pendulum is positioned, Note that while there is some variance in the values of d
and d, the horizontal distance the struck ball travels before as predicted and measured, all measured values are slightly
hitting the floor. The linear distances are measured with a (typically 2%) less than the predicted values. Students are
meterstick and the angle is determined from lines scribed on asked to speculate as to the sinks of energy that result in these
a protractor-like attachment at 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60°. Compo- slightly smaller measured values. The sound of the “click” at
nents of the setup are identified in Fig 2. the collision, slight movement of the swinging ball after the
If the zero of mechanical energy is taken as the situation collision, and air resistance are frequently mentioned. Before
when both balls are motionless and in contact at the bottom of performing the experiment, we distinctly decorate the struck
the pendulum’s arc, the initial energy of the system, E0, is just ball with white correctional fluid (i.e., Wite-OutTM) markings
the potential energy of the motionless pendulum ball when to make any rotational motion obvious. By eliminating rota-
the pendulum is pulled an angle q above its lowest position. tion through adjustment of struck ball initial positioning, it
Thus, then is straightforward to ensure that the collision involves
only translational motion.
E0 = mgL(1 – cos q). (1) Upon completing the laboratory exercise, students are
satisfied that they have created and observed a fully trans-

110 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 50, February 2012

lational collision and have quantitatively demonstrated the

Look What’s New

near-elasticity of that collision. The setup was constructed in
the department instrument shop at minimal cost, with an in-
expensive micrometer, two bearings, and a small circular level
being the only separately purchased items.

Acknowledgments
in The Physics Store!
Keith Warren is gratefully acknowledged for his critical
review of the manuscript, as is Tim Harvell for his help with
instrument design.

References
Preconceptions
in Mechanics
1. See, for example, “Roller Coaster” demos and student experi-
ments available at www.pasco.com.
2. See, for example, “Ball in Track” demo #1M40.30 at demoroom.
physics.ncsu.edu/.
This second edition of Charles Camp and John J.
3. Thin rods were used because attempts to construct the setup
using two threads to create the pendulum were not success- Clement’s book contains a set of 24 innovative lessons
ful. With threads, after the collision the pendulum ball almost and laboratories in mechanics for high school physics
always twists back and forth as the two threads on either side of classrooms that was developed by a team of teachers
the ball oscillate out-of-plane. This twisting added an intoler-
able energy loss.
and science education researchers. Research has shown
4. The thread and match are used in starting the pendulum to that certain student preconceptions conflict with current
ensure that no additional momentum is imparted to the ball as physical theories and seem to resist change when using
it begins its swing. This technique was pioneered by Foucault traditional instructional techniques. This book provides
as described in Amir D. Acsel’s biography Pendulum: Léon Fou-
cault and the Triumph of Science (Atria Books, New York, 2003).
a set of lessons that are aimed specifically at these
particularly troublesome areas: Normal Forces, Friction,
Michael Paesler is professor and head of the Department of Physics at Newton’s Third Law, Relative Motion, Gravity, Inertia, and
North Carolina State University. He is the coauthor (with Patrick Moyer) Tension. The lessons can be used to supplement any course
of Near-field Optics: Theory, Instrumentation, and Applications, and is the
author of an elementary optics text, From Rainbows to Lasers. that includes mechanics. Each unit contains detailed
paesler@ncsu.edu step-by-step lesson plans, homework and test problems,
as well as background information on common student
misconceptions, an overall integrated teaching strategy,
and key aspects of the targeted core concepts. A CD of all
duplication materials is included.

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The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 50, February 2012 111