Ballistic pendulum

A classic method of determining the velocity of a projectile is to shoot it into a resting mass hung as a pendulum. The projectile remains in the pendulum and swings with it. This is an inelastic collision in which the momentum remains unchanged. The velocity of the pendulum's mass (including the projectile's mass) at the lowest point of the pendulum can be derived from the amplitude of the pendulum's oscillation. Additionally to the set-up, two light barriers and a time measuring device are available for an independent, direct measurement of the initial velocity of the ball.