However, approximations of initial and final velocities, increased gravitation acceleration due to angled surfaces, transfer of energy to sound or heat, or additional friction may result in the gain or loss of momentum within the system.
Our numbers obtained through the experiment and equations, allowed us to conclude that kinetic energy is conserved in elastic equations, but not in total inelastic equations supporting our second hypothesis. However, we noticed that there were still minor amounts of kinetic energy lost during the elastic collisions. This is most likely due to friction, because the track provided does not completely remove the friction force. There could also have been some calculation and averaging errors when using the Labquest2 computer system, which would lead to that inaccurate