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The video below shows two carts colliding while on a level track. One cart is stationary on the left side of the track as a second cart to the right of the first is given a push to the left and allowed to collide with the stationary cart.
Click to show/hide a text description of the video and graph.
Text description of the video:
In the video, two carts have force sensors attached to them and are on a level track. The cart on the left is initially stationary. A second cart, which is to the right of the stationary cart, is given a push to the left and collides with the stationary cart. The force sensors are aligned so that they press against one another during the collision. Each force sensor measures the force that it exerts against the other. The carts collide once and bounce off of one another. A graph of the force exerted by each force sensor as a function of time appears in the lower left corner of the video as the video proceeds.
>Text description of the graph:
The graph shows two graphs of force vs. time on the same plot, one graph for each force sensor. The data from the force sensor attached to the (initially) stationary cart is shown in blue and the data from the force sensor attached to the moving cart is shown in red. The blue trace shows forces above the time axis and the red trace shows forces below the time axis. At each point in time, the blue trace is the same amount above the time axis as the red trace is below the time axis.
The graph from the inset of the video:
