Question

Hi, I'm doing an experiement where I compare elastic and ineslatic collision on a straight track vs circular track with toy cars and velcro for inelastic collision. My question is whether or not momentum and kinetic energy is conserved in the circular track for elastic and inelastic collision similiar to the straight track? whats the difference between straight and circular track (like is momentum not conserved in elastic collision ? etc.)? I know the straight trac uses linear momentum and circular track uses angular momentum but how do you know the net torque and net force is zero for momentum calculations? Are calculations for kinetic energy different too in straight vs circular tracks? Sorry there are so many questions, I'm just really confused on the subject as a whole :(.

Answer 1