Impact Crater Experiments for Introductory Physics and Astronomy Laboratories

Activity-based collisional analysis is developed for introductory physics and astronomy laboratory experiments. Crushable floral foam is used to investigate the physics of projectiles undergoing completely inelastic collisions with a low-density solid forming impact craters. Simple drop experiments enable determination of the average acceleration, force, collision time, impulse, and work done on simulated meteorites by the floral foam during crater formation. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)