Collisions of three billiard balls
- Authors
- Type
- Published Article
- Journal
- Physics Education
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Publication Date
- Aug 23, 2022
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 6
- Identifiers
- DOI: 10.1088/1361-6552/ac8517
- Source
- ioppublishing
- Keywords
- Disciplines
- License
- Unknown
Abstract
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 where two of the balls emerge at right angles to each other.