Electronic counter in undergraduate laboratories: part II. Measurement of successive time intervals

In this work we describe a procedure for measuring a series of time intervals in quick succession using several electronic counters connected to a single crystal oscillator used as a time standard. To illustrate the procedure, an application involving the conservation of linear momentum in a head-on collision between two gliders as they travel on a linear air track is discussed. In spite of the proposal to demand one counter for each time interval to be measured, instead of a single digital timer with memory, it is yet advantageous because the assembly cost of an electronic timer is very low compared to that of a commercial digital timer with memory appropriated for use in undergraduate laboratories.

electronic counter; digital time with memory; operations in sequence; measurement of successive time intervals