Energy, momentum and collisions
14 ready-made scenes and Python scripts. Each opens in the studio; press Play to run it, then change anything: masses, lengths, the forces, what the graphs show.
- Newton's Cradle
Five balls. Pull the end ball back and let it go. - Bouncing Ball: Energy Research
A ball dropped from 5 m: PE becomes KE (v = √(2gh)), and each bounce keeps e² of the energy. - Disc Rolling in a V-Track Research
A disc rolls down one ramp and up the other: potential energy, kinetic energy of the motion and of the spin, and a constant total. - Elastic Collision Research
1 kg at 3 m/s hits 2 kg at rest: the velocities after are −1 and +2 m/s; momentum and kinetic energy are both conserved. - Perfectly Inelastic Collision Research
The same carts with e = 0: they move on together at 1 m/s. Momentum is conserved, a third of the kinetic energy is lost. - Impulse: Wall or Safety Net Research
The same change of momentum, Δp = FΔt: the rigid wall stops the ball at once (a huge force), the spring-and-damper net takes much longer. - Ballistic Pendulum Research
A 0.5 kg bullet at 30 m/s embeds in a 4 kg block on a rod: v = mu/(M+m) after the impact, then the swing rises h = v²/2g. - Billiards: an Oblique Collision Research
A ball strikes an equal ball at rest off the centre line: the struck ball leaves along the line of centres, the other turns aside, and they part at exactly 90°. - Leaving the Dome Research
A block slides off the top of a smooth dome. The normal force m g cos θ − m v²/R falls to zero at cos θ = ⅔: it always leaves at two thirds of the height. - Recoil: Two Carts Pushed Apart Research
A spring pushes a 1 kg and a 3 kg cart apart. The total momentum stays zero: the light cart leaves three times as fast and takes three quarters of the energy. - Bungee jump by energy Python Research
A cord that is slack, then a spring: the script's force gives the lowest point the energy method predicts. - Elastic collisions for every mass ratio Python Research
A moving ball hits balls of 0.25 to 8 times its mass; the speeds after against the formulas. - The rocket equation Python Research
A rocket that burns fuel gets lighter: Δv = v_e ln(m₀/m) − gt, mass and thrust set from the script. - Energy audit of the open scene Python Research
Open any scene, then run it: kinetic and potential energy of every moving body, their sum, and how much was lost.