Conservation of Angular Momentum

Purpose:
The purpose of the experiment is to use the understanding of angular moment, gravitational potential energy, and elastic collisions to make a prediction about the experiment.

Equipment Used:

A meter stick was pivoted as close to its end as possible and it was placed so when it would swing a piece of clay would collide with it and stick to the ruler. The piece of clay is placed as close to the bottom of the meter stick as possible and a camera is going to capture the maximum height that the meter stick will rise again.














Data Collected:
Length of the meter stick that is around the axis of rotation = .994m
Mass of the meter stick = .137kg
Mass of clay = .00955kg
Distance away from axis of rotation for clay = .994m

Calculations:

The theoretical angle that the meter stick should rise after the collision is calculated, assuming that the ruler is released from a 90 degree angle and it makes a completely inelastic collision with the clay. There is also an assumption that there is no friction and that the system didn't lose any energy when the clay and meter stick collided. The calculations predicted that the angle should have been 74 degrees and the experimental  angle was 66 degrees.











Conclusions:
The experimental angle was smaller than the theoretical angle, which isn't a credit to any error in the experiment. The source for the error was in the assumptions that the system didn't have any friction or that there was no loss of energy or momentum during the collision. The system clearly had friction and the system might have lost a little bit of energy when the clay collided with the ruler because the clay was placed on a rod and it would have taken energy to remove the clay from the rod.

Sincerely,

Swaggy C