NEWTON'S CRADLE

The cradle in motion. Newton's cradle 5-ball s stem in !D "-ball swin# Newton's cradle, named after Sir Isaac Newton, is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. When one on the end is lifted and released, the resulting force travels through the line and pushes the last one upward. The device is also known as Newton's balls or !"ecutive #all $licker .

Constr$ction
% typical Newton's cradle consists of a series of identically si&ed metal balls suspended in a metal frame so that they are 'ust touching each other at rest. !ach ball is attached to the frame by two wires of e(ual length angled away from each other. This restricts the pendulums' movements to the same plane. %ction Newton's cradle )*ball system. The left ball is pulled away and is let to fall+ it strikes the right ball and the left ball comes to nearly a dead stop. The right ball ac(uires most of the velocity and almost instantly swings in an arc almost as high as the release height of

the first ball. This shows that the right ball receives most of the energy and momentum that was in the first ball. If one ball is pulled away and is let to fall, it strikes the first ball in the series and comes to nearly a dead stop. The ball on the opposite side ac(uires most of the velocity and almost instantly swings in an arc almost as high as the release height of the -ast ball. This shows that the final ball receives most of the energy and momentum that was in the first ball. Newtons cradle .*ball system. /ne ball is pulled away and is let to fall+ it strikes the first ball in the series and comes to nearly a dead stop. The ball on the opposite side ac(uires most of the velocity and almost instantly swings in an arc almost as high as the release height of the first ball. This shows that the final ball receives most of the energy and momentum that was in the first ball. The impact produces a shock wave that propagates through the intermediate balls. %ny efficiently elastic material such as steel will do this as long as the kinetic energy is temporarily stored as potential energy in the compression of the material rather than being lost as heat. Intrigue is provided by starting more than one ball in motion. With two balls, e"actly two balls on the opposite side swing out and back. Newton's cradle 0*ball swing in a .*ball system. The central ball swings without any apparent interruption. 1ore than half the balls can be set in motion. 2or e"ample, three out of five balls will result in the central ball swinging without any apparent interruption. While the symmetry is satisfying, why does the initial ball 3or balls4 not bounce back instead of imparting nearly all the momentum and energy to the last ball 3or balls45 The simple e(uations used for the conservation of kinetic energy and conservation of
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momentum can show this is a possible solution, but they cannot be used to predict the final velocities when there are three or more balls in a cradle, because they provide only two e(uations to find the three or more unknowns 3velocities of the balls4. They give an infinite number of possible solutions if the system of balls is not e"amined in more detail.

%istor
$hristiaan 6uygens used pendulums to study collisions. 6is work, 7e 1otu $orporum e" 8ercussione 3/n the 1otion of #odies by $ollision4 published posthumously in ,9:0, contains a version of Newton's first law and discusses the collision of suspended bodies including two bodies of e(ual si&e with the motion of a moving body being transferred to one at rest. The principle demonstrated by the device, the law of impacts between bodies, was first demonstrated by the 2rench physicist %bb; 1ariotte in the ,9th century. Newton acknowledged 1ariotte's work, among that of others, in his 8rincipia.

&%'S(CS E)&LANAT(ON
Newton's cradle can be modeled with simple physics and minor errors if it is incorrectly assumed the balls always collide in pairs. If one ball strikes < stationary balls that are already touching, the simplification is unable to e"plain the resulting movements in all . balls, which are not due to friction losses. 2or e"ample, in a real Newton's cradle the <th has some movement and the first ball has a slight reverse movement. %ll the animations in this article show ideali&ed action 3simple solution4 that only occurs if the balls are not touching initially and only collide in pairs.

Sim*le sol$tion

The conservation of momentum 3mass = velocity4 and kinetic energy 3:.. = mass = velocity>)4 can be used to find the resulting velocities for two colliding elastic balls. When all the balls weigh the same, the solution for a colliding pair is that the moving ball stops relative to the stationary one, and the stationary one picks up all the other's velocity 3and therefore all the momentum and energy, assuming no friction, heat, or sound energy losses4. This effect from two identical elastic colliding spheres is the basis of the cradle and gives an appro"imate solution to all its action without needing to use math to solve the momentum and energy e(uations. 2or e"ample, when two balls separated by a very small distance are dropped and strike three stationary balls, the action is as follows? The first ball to strike 3the second ball in the cradle4 transfers its velocity to the third ball and stops. The third ball then transfers the velocity to the fourth ball and stops, and then the fourth to the fifth ball. @ight behind this se(uence is the first ball transferring its velocity to the second ball that had 'ust been stopped, and the se(uence repeats immediately and imperceptibly behind the first se(uence, e'ecting the fourth ball right behind the fifth ball with the same microscopic separation that was between the two initial striking balls. If the ,st and )nd balls had been firmly connected at their ad'oining surfaces, the initial strike would be the same as one ball having twice the weight and this results in the last ball moving away much faster than the <th ball, so the initial separation is important.

When sim*le sol$tion a**lies

In order for the simple solution to theoretically apply, no pair in the midst of colliding can touch a third ball. This is because applying the two conservation e(uations to three or more balls in a single collision results in many possible solutions. !ven when there is a small initial separation, a 0rd ball may become involved in the collision if the initial separation is not large enough. This is because the )nd ball starts to move and can move into a 0rd ball before the ,st and )nd balls' colliding surface has
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separated. When this occurs, the complete solution method described below must be used. If the initial separations are large enough to prevent simultaneous collisions, the complete solution simplifies to the case of independent collision pairs. Small steel balls work well because they remain efficiently elastic with little heat loss under strong strikes and do not compress much 3up to about 0: Am in a small Newton's cradle4. The small, stiff compressions mean they occur rapidly, less than ):: microseconds, so steel balls are more likely to complete a collision before touching a nearby 0rd ball. Steel increases the time during the cradle's operation that the simple solution applies. Softer elastic balls re(uire a larger separation in order to ma"imi&e the effect from pair*wise collisions. In a pair*wise collision, mass and initial velocity are the variables that are solved for in the momentum and energy e(uations. 2or three or more simultaneously colliding elastic balls, the relative compressibilities of the colliding surfaces are the additional variables that determine the outcome. 2or e"ample, five balls have four colliding points and scaling 3dividing4 three of them by the fourth will give the three e"tra variables needed 3in addition to the two conservation e(uations4 to solve for all five post*collision velocities. #ut the compressions of the surfaces are interacting in a way that makes a deterministic algebraic solution by this method very difficult. Instead of conservation of momentum and energy, Newton's law and the compression of all four contact points is used for a numerical solution as described below.

+ore com*lete sol$tion

7etermining the velocities for the case of one ball striking four initially*touching balls is found by modeling the balls as weights with non*traditional springs on their colliding surface. Steel is elastic and follows 6ooke's force law for springs, 2BkCcdot ", but
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because the area of contact for a sphere increases as the force increases, colliding elastic balls will follow 6ert&'s ad'ustment to 6ooke's law, C 2BkCcdot ">D,..E. This and Newton's law for motion 32BmCcdot a4 are applied to each ball, giving five simple but interdependent differential e(uations that are solved numerically.F9G When the fifth ball begins accelerating, it is receiving momentum and energy from the third and fourth balls through the spring action of their compressed surfaces. 2or identical elastic balls of any type, <:H to .:H of the kinetic energy of the initial ball is stored in the ball surfaces as potential energy for most of the collision process. ,0H of the initial velocity is imparted to the fourth ball 3which can be seen as a 0.0 degree movement if the fifth ball moves out ). degrees4 and there is a slight reverse velocity in the first three balls, I9H in the first ball. This separates the balls, but they will come back together 'ust before the fifth ball returns making a determination of touching during subse(uent collisions comple". Stationary steel balls weighing ,:: grams 3with a strike speed of , mJs4 need to be separated by at least ,: Am if they are to be modeled as simple independent collisions. The differential e(uations with the initial separations are needed if there is less than ,: Am separation, a higher strike speed, or heavier balls. The 6ert&ian differential e(uations predict that if two balls strike three, the fifth and fourth balls will leave with velocities of ,.,< and :.K: times the initial velocity.FLG This is ).:0 times more kinetic energy in the fifth ball than the fourth ball, which means the fifth ball should swing twice as high as the fourth ball. #ut in a real Newton's cradle the fourth ball swings out as far as the fifth ball. In order to e"plain the difference between theory and e"periment, the two striking balls must have at least ): Am separation 3given steel, ,:: g, and , mJs4. This shows that in the common case of steel balls, unnoticed separations can be important and must be included in the 6ert&ian differential e(uations, or the simple solution may give a more accurate result. Descri*tion o, Newton's Cradle

Newton's $radle consists of several metal balls 3usually .4 suspended from a rack by wires, such that they line up and are almost in contact when in a resting position. There are two wires attached to each ball to keep the pendulum motion in one plane. &$ll $* one ball When an end ball 3ball a4 is pulled up and let go, it swings down as a pendulum and hits the ne"t ball. The energy and momentum from that ball is transmitted through the three balls at rest to the fifth ball on the other end 3ball e4. That ball is propelled forward at the same velocity as the first ball had, due to the force of the first collision. This process continues as ball e reaches its peak and then swings down to hit the balls at rest, propelling ball a forward and upward.

/ne Newton's $radle ball raised and ready to swing Note? %lthough the balls look like they are touching, they are really slightly apart 3less than the width of a human hair4 Two or more balls If two or more balls are pulled up and let go at the same time, the collision will result in the same number of balls will be propelled forward on the other end.

Slowl slows down The pendulum action will go back and forth until it gradually slows down due to losses from friction and the elasticity of the balls. Steel balls are usually used, because they deform very little upon collision and are highly elasticNmeaning only a small amount of energy is lost in the collision. Re-$irements There are several re(uirements on the contruction of Newton's $radle, to make sure it fuctions properly? The balls in Newton's $radle should be the same mass. !ven a slight deviation will change the derivation e(uations and result in slightly different results. It doesn't matter how many balls are used, although the more you use, the greater the chances for deviations. The balls should be perfectly aligned. If some balls were not on a straight line, the transfer of momentum and energy would also be misaligned, changing the outcome. Spherical balls are used because their contact is appro"imately a point. /ther shaped ob'ects could be used, but that increases the chances for misalignment. 6ard metal ballsNsuch as made of hardened steelNare used to minimi&e losses in energy due to elastic distortions. #alls are hung with a pair of strings or wires in order to keep them in alignment and to minimi&e losses due to friction. Sim$lation
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The following simulation allows you to e"plore Newton's $radle on your computer, similar to using the real device. Note that you must have the 2lash player installed in your computer to use this simulation. Dra# on one ball 8lace you mouse pointer on an end ball, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the ball, so it is at an angle. Then release the mouse button and let the ball swing free. Oou will see that only one ball on the other end of the group swings up at about the same speed as the ball you let go. Notice that the balls start to slow down and will bounce less and less until they finally stop. This is due to losses from friction and energy that is absorbed in the balls. The effect is called damping of the periodic motion.

Dra# m$lti*le balls Oou can drag two, three or four balls and let them go. The same number of balls you release will be moved forward upon the collision with the moving balls. This verifies the -aw of the $onservation of 1omentum, which states that the momentum 3mass times velocity4 remains the same after a collision. S$mmar Newton's $radle demonstrates laws of motion, including the -aws of $onservation of 1omentum and !nergy. The simulation allows you to e"periment swinging different number of balls to verify the conservation of momentum.