Mass of each ball = 22.0 grams. Fill in the table below
 

Angle	Number of balls	Fall distance	Range (x)	Final velocity	Potential Energy	Kinetic Energy	Momentum before,	V’	Momentum after
10°	1
20°	1
30°	1
45°	1
45°	2
45°	3
60°
70°
90°
100°

 

The materials needed include the following: chart above, Newton’s cradle, ruler, and protractor. You will also need addition information: ball’s mass=22.0 grams and the measurements are in mks format.

 
The following are directions on how to measure Fall distance and Range at the angle of 90° .  The picture to the left shows how to measure the angle and the second one shows how to measure the Falling Distance(y). The protractor is held up to measure the angle of the ball and the ruler held horizontally. To figure the Falling Distance you must measure the distance from the bottom of the ruler to the height of the ball at rest. Then measure from the bottom of the ruler to the height of ball when it is held at the 90° angle. Then you subtract the angle height from the rest height and you have the falling distance for that angle.


 This picture you see is basically the same except the ruler is held vertically. First you place the ruler where the ball would be at rest, placing from center of ball, then hold the ball at angle, and measure the distance from starting point to the angle point. This is the Range(x) of the angle.

In order to fill out the chart you must have the proper equations.  We have been considerate enough to provide those equations below.

1. Equation for Final Velocity:

V_f =gt + V_o
2. Equation for Initial Velocity:

V_o=(2gh)^(1/2)
3. Equation for Potential Energy:

PE=mgh
4. Equation for Kinetic Energy:

KE=(.5)(m)(v)²
5. Equation for Momentum Before:

m₁v₁ + m₂v₂
6. Equation for V’:

V'=( m₁v₁ + m₂v₂)/(2* weight of ball)
7. Equation for Momentum After:
8. _m1v₁’ + m₂v₂’

The next part of the assignment was to make a graph to see the data in another form in the name of technology. We chose Falling Distance –vs- Final Velocity for our graph to share with you.

  

What now?

After you observe the data above you are welcome to research further horizons of data by experimenting with other angles and number of balls falling.

Extra URL’s
 

www.phy.utulsa.edu/phys1991/cradle.html
www.cs.uleth.ca/students/berdine/play4.html
acs6.buedui8001/˜tleahey/Newton2.html
www.corvus.demon.co.uk/newton.htm
www.wko.coml˜jrd/newton.html
www.hgsi.com
www.roe.ac.uk/ajcwww/posts/newton.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/cradleCo/
http://www.sito.org/sito/MASS/Ang_J/jnewton1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/Bay/6508/cradle.html
http://members.tripod.com/˜BETTYBOOP/htm/animate.htm

11. Info about our selves

*Our names are Becca and Sarah. We are graduating seniors who go to Fayetteville High School-East Campus where we are currently enrolled in AP Physics B. This class is why my friend Becca and I are putting this web page together. It is a requirement for passing this course. We picked Newton’s Cradle for our subject because we like to play with the cradle itself and because we understand the information as well as the equations. If you have any questions about the information above, the equations, additional URL’s, or us then you can reach us at our e-mail addresses below:

Sarah S_brown@ecs1.nwsc.k12.ar.us

 Application to the real World!!!(NOT)  :-)

*For all you pool players out there, this information is helpful when you need to know how hard to hit one ball in order to send it’s energy to the next ball so that it can do as you wish.