Abstract Collisions are a key topic in physics and engineering education. An experiment with multiple body one-dimensional collisions is presented, aiming to measure relevant physical quantities by tracking the motion of the system of particles during the collision. Relations between different physical quantities can be explored in the experiment, such as linear momentum, impulse, and energy. Equations are presented for modeling velocity changes during the collisions under the elastic and inelastic conditions and extensions to many body colliders can be easily implemented. Predictions for the velocities and other collision quantities were verified for a set of mass parameters by photogrammetry and digital video analysis.