How do Collisions Show Energy? (Unit 2: Lesson 3)

A cart slides along a rail until it hits a wall and stops. Which energy types are most likely outcomes of this collision?

• sound and heat

• sound and light

• electricity and stored energy

• electricity and motion energy

Doug is investigating motion by rolling tennis balls across the floor. Each tennis ball travels at a different speed. What did Doug most likely change in his investigation?

• how hard he rolled each ball

• the size of the tennis ball

• the time of day of the roll

• the direction of the tennis ball

Fernando is using a spring to send foam balls into the air. How does his device convert energy from one form to another?

• The light in the spring is transformed to stored energy in the ball.

• The heat in the spring is transformed to motion energy in the ball.

• The motion energy of the spring is transformed to heat energy in the ball.

• The stored energy in the spring is transformed to motion energy in the ball.

Mannie is using toy cars to investigate speed. He is changing the length and shape of the track to see the effects on speed. What change could he make to the track to make a car go faster?

• make the car as heavy as possible

• make the track as rough as possible

• make the beginning of the track higher than the end

• make the end of the track higher than the beginning

Ramon is doing a science project about collisions using a bat and baseball. Predict how the energy and motion of the bat and ball will change when the objects collide.

The picture shows two objects, book A and book B, at rest. Malia wonders what will happen if she pushes the books off the table. Predict what will happen to the energy of the books when they hit the floor.