AP Physics performed a set of mini labs to learn about the concept of momentum on Jan. 17 and 23. Students experimented with instructions given to them for each mini lab then classify if the resulting type of momentum was an elastic collision, inelastic collision or  explosion.

“The mini labs are a great way to learn about different types of collisions like inelastic, elastic and explosions,” junior Trisha Shah said. “I like that the labs were a great visual representation of what we have learned about elastic and inelastic collisions as well as explosions. They were short enough to keep engaging and fun to do.” 

Students had five mini labs to complete during their class. For each lab, they had to create a title, a materials needed list and a procedure. After they had planned their procedure and performed their labs, they wrote a conclusion explaining if they thought energy was conserved throughout the experiments.

“We’re currently on the unit Linear Momentum,” junior Rachel Abraham said. “The mini labs consisted of many different systems, like an ice cube collision and how a tennis ball would fall onto a racket. I felt like the mini labs were also a good way to move around the classroom and experience physics in more real life, which we don’t really get to do very often during class.”  

These labs allow for students to experience the labs instead of reading information. Each one of their five mini labs gave a different example for what collision or explosion could be caused by different object interactions.

“We learned how elastic collision is where the force of one object is carried over to the next object and inelastic collision is where the two objects after collision move together,” Shah said. “I think the labs were fun, especially the balloon one, where we filled a balloon with air and see how it moved when we let go of it. I think Mrs. Sudhakaran is a great teacher for organizing all these labs in a fun and useful way, with everyday objects”