course phy 232
* Watch the KEx and KEy values as they change with each collision, representing the total x and y kinetic energies of the particles. * Watch the 'red' particle for a couple of minutes, estimating the average time between its collisions and its average speed (one of the speeds given near the top of the screen corresponds to that of the 'red' particle--which is it?).
The first speed on the left corresponds to the red particle.
* Watch the 'blue' particle, and speculate on what property of this particle is different from that of the other particles.
The blue particle is heavier then the others because of it's greater resistance to impact or change in momentum.
* Watch as the 'red' particle sometimes turns yellow. What causes this? What property does the particle have when it is yellow?
Colliding with a yellow green particle causes the red particle to turn yellow. When it is yellow, it's speed increases dramatically about 10.
* What might the graphs represented at the right of the screen represent?
The graphs represent the average velocities of the particles, the red, blue, and green ones.
* Strike the 'S' key to stop the simulation, and if you are done give the appropriate response to the prompt to quit the program. CTRL-ALT-DELETE will also stop the program, but if you're not careful it will reboot your computer so avoid that option if you can.
One graph is the frequency distribution of the velocity of the first particle, the other is a frequency distribution of the kinetic energy of this particle. The horizontal axis is the quantity (velocity on one graph, KE on the other), while the vertical axis is the relative probability of its occurrence.