Newton's Cradle

Newton's cradle is named after the 17th-century English scientist Sir Isaac Newton. It is also known as Newton's Balls or Executive Ball Clicker. It is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy using a series of swinging spheres. When one sphere at the end is lifted and released, it strikes the stationary spheres, transmitting a force through the stationary spheres that pushes the last sphere upward. The last sphere swings back and strikes the still nearly stationary spheres, repeating the effect in the opposite direction. In this experiment, we will verify energy conservation laws using video tracking.