Question

How much momentum is conserved in an inelastic collision? my lab data says 50 percent, but it seems as if my teacher wants 100.

Answer 1

all of it!! 100% !!

Answer 2

energy can be **converted** but momentum is always conserved

Answer 3

conservation of linear momentum applies here ???? It's CLASSICALLY - ie newton - tied up with that pesky second law "The rate of change of linear momentum ... " and the third law of action and reaction ???? shamrock's got the answer above.

Answer 4

NEWTON AND ENERGY
In Newton's laws of motion, there is a strong mention of momentum, but there's no mention at all of energy, kinetic, potential or otherwise.
Whether conservation, and possible energy conversion were part of the background to Newton's laws I don't know. But, it's possible that what I've just written has perhaps explained the confusion which can happen when collisions and other momentum problems are broached.
Momentum seems to be dealt with by having its own, almost penthouse suite status, as being the second law. Energy isn't mentioned at all.

I've not read Newton's "Principia" or any of his other stuff, and if I looked at them, they being probably in Latin I wouldn't understand them.
So, I can only go on the interpretations written by various physicists, presumably, since Newton.

(I'd have the same problem with the "gedanken" of reading Albert and Mileva-Maric Einstein's 1905 paper on Special relativity - I don't speak German ((and I'm probably not clever enough)))

Answer 5

Galileo, and a cast of many others, already knew the 2nd Law.

the 1st Law dusted off Aristotle but they all knew that too!!

His genius, in this narrow context, was the 3rd Law. Momentum exchange.

Answer 6

Galileo, and a cast of many others, already knew the 2nd Law.

the 1st Law dusted off Aristotle but they all knew that too!!

His genius, in this narrow context, was the 3rd Law. Linear - and Angular - Momentum exchange.