Question

Jack is playing with a Newton's cradle. As he lifts one ball to position A and drops it, it impacts the other balls at position B and becomes stationary while the ball on the opposite side leaps into the air swinging to position C. What is happening to cause this?

Answer 1

Answer:

Newton's Cradle is a neat way to demonstrate the principle of the CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM.

What happens here is when the ball on one end of the cradle is swung and it hits the other balls that are motionless, or stationary, the momentum of the swinging ball is transferred to the next ball upon impact.

Momentum is not lost in this action, what happens when it hits the next ball, the momentum is transferred to the next one, and then the next, and the the next, till it reaches the last ball on the other end. Since nothing is next to the last ball, it pushes the ball upwards, which will swing down and repeat the process going the other way.

This also demonstrates the CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. As you will see, the energy continues to move through the other balls, passing it from one ball to the other, which keeps this constantly moving.