Examine each cart before and after the collision. Calculate the ratio of the total kinetic energy before the collision. Enter the values in the collision Table. If the total momentum for the system is conserved, what would be the ratio of the total momentum before the collision? If the total kinetic energy for the system is the same before and after the collision, we say that kinetic energy is conserved. If kinetic energy were conserved, what would be the ratio of the kinetic energy before the collision? Inspect the momentum ratios in Table 3. Even if momentum is conserved for a given collision, the measured values may not be exactly the same before and after due to measurement uncertainty. The ratio should be close, however. Is momentum conserved in your collisions? Repeat the preceding question for the case of kinetic energy, using the kinetic energy ratios in Table 4. Is kinetic energy conserved in the magnetic bumper collisions? How about the shock collisions? Is kinetic energy consumed in the third type of collision studies? Classify and pile the three collision types as elastic, inelastic, or completely inelastic. Check this by completing Table. What is the maximum value you found? If the last of the carts had increased combined kinetic energies.