TI-Nspire™ Activities: Physics

In this activity, students investigate the impulse-momentum theorem using a simulation of a perfectly elastic collision.

Students examine an animation showing the collision of a ball with an unmovable wall. The animation shows the magnitude, direction, and duration of the force exerted on the ball by the wall.

Students can vary the momentum of the ball and the magnitude of the force exerted by the wall. They can then watch the animation again to see the difference in duration of the force and the ball's momentum before and after collision. They use their observations to derive the impulse-momentum theorem.