Newton's Cradle

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Newton’s Cradle What is it? Newton's cradle is a series of five balls hung on thin string. One (or 2) ball(s) is pulled back and the energy travels through the balls and the one (or 2) depending on how many were pulled back go up. How does it work? When the first ball collides with the second, the first ball stops, but its momentum isn't lost,it is transferred to the second ball, then the third, then the fourth, until it reaches the very last ball. You can see this conservation of momentum as the last ball swings into the air with nearly the same momentum as the first ball, so if two balls are lifted into the air on one end of the cradle and released, then two balls on the other side will swing in response. How does this relate to

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