EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON ENERGY LOSS AND RESTITUTION COEFFICIENT OF INCOMPLETE ELASTIC COLLISION

Collision is a physical phenomenon, in which objects (or particles) interact in a very short time. In our daily life, “collision phenomenon” is very common and accompanied by energy loss. In order to respond to the “suspended class, ongoing learning”, a new mode of physics experiment teaching that does not rely on laboratory conditions is explored. This paper guides students to design experiments using smart phone sensors and computer equipment to explore the energy loss and restitution coefficient of a small ball in the process of incomplete elastic collision in which a ball falls freely to the ground. Experiments show that the energy loss rate increases with the initial falling height of the ball, but decreases with the increase of the number of collisions for the same initial falling height. The coefficient of restitution decreases with the increase of the initial falling height, but increases with the number of collisions at the same initial falling height. In addition, students are further guided to discuss the influence of air resistance on the experiment from two aspects of theoretical analysis and experimental exploration.