Mini Newton’s Cradle Desk Toy

Add some physics to your desk or table! Newton’s cradle demonstrates the law of conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. You can witness the amazing laws of physics anywhere you put this device by lifting one of the end spheres and releasing it and watch the magic happen! It promotes relaxation, relieves stress, and enhances inner peace, great for conference rooms, lobbies, and offices!

Since the beginning of Newtonian physics, science has shown us time and time again that we can build incredible demonstrations that interpret observations mathematically. This Newton’s cradle does just that with its equal pendulums in a row that illustrate the Newtonian Laws of Conservation of Momentum and Conservation of Energy. The toy was originally created to amuse people and was invented in 1967 by English actor Simon Prebble, but was named in honor of the scientist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton.

The premise of the toy is to take one of the steel balls on the end of the toy, swing the pendulum around 60 degrees off the vertical axis, release, and watch as the falling ball transfers energy to not one, not two, not three, but four of the other steel balls. This, in turn, sends the adjacent steel ball swinging upwards to nearly the exact same height as the original ball had been raised. As the second end ball begins to fall from its peak height, it turns its potential energy back into kinetic energy that will again move across the system and the system keeps doing this indefinitely. Now, due to friction against air and heat losses due to material elasticity, the balls will eventually lose their repetition, but nonetheless, you can see just a small amount of potential energy added to a system can live inside this system for a large amount of time!

Specifications

• Size: 9cm x 7.5cm x 9cm
• Material: Steel