Published in European Journal of Physics
We present a multiple-collision apparatus, based on low-cost and easy-to-find materials, which offers the opportunity to plan and conduct a sequence of experimental activities aimed at studying, in a very simple way, the energy transfer in multiple collisions. Our apparatus is based on the use of everyday objects such as toys, which stimulate stude...
Published in Physics Education
Newton’s cradle is commonly used to show that a collision of three or more identical balls in a row is one that conserves momentum and kinetic energy. An experiment is described where one billiard ball collides at an angle with another two at rest. The collision also conserves momentum and kinetic energy and has several surprisingly simple outcomes...
Published in Physics Education
A collision of one object with two or more objects is relatively complicated in general, but a simple example is provided by Newton’s cradle since all the objects are identical and in line. In the present paper, an experiment is described where a heavy mallet collides head-on with two billiard balls. The two conservation equations indicate that man...
Este es un problema relacionado con las oscilaciones del péndulo de Newton que gradualmente decaerán hasta que las esferas lleguen al reposo. En esta investigación se ha investigado el efecto de varios parámetros como el número, el material y la alineación de las esferas sobre la tasa de desintegración. La colisión entre dos bolas fue nuestra obser...
This is a problem related to oscillations of a Newton’s cradle which will gradually decay until the spheres come to the rest. The effect of several parameters such as number, material and alignment of the spheres on the rate of decay in this research have been investigated. The collision between two balls was our initial observation and then it was...
Ensino Médio::Física / Educação Superior::Ciências Exatas e da Terra::Física / Animation which demonstrates, through the Newton’ cradle, the conservation of the momentum and the energy / Basic notions on momentum and energy
Published in Multibody System Dynamics
The 3-ball Newton’s cradle is used as a stepping stone to divulge the structure of impact laws. A continuous conewise linear impact law that maps the preimpact contact velocities to the postimpact contact velocities is proposed for the 3-ball Newton’s cradle. The proposed impact law is kinematically, kinetically, and energetically consistent. It re...
Published in Journal of Statistical Physics
We study relaxation in a one-dimensional two-mass mixture of hard-core particles. A heavy-light-heavy triplet of three neighboring particles can form a little known unequal mass generalization of Newton’s cradle at particular light-to-heavy mass ratios. An anomalous slow-down in the relaxation of the whole system is expected due to the presence of ...
