With a Newton's Cradle, to what extent is the original force/work preserved or over how long does it gradually reduce to zero?
from cheese_greater@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca on 03 Jul 17:43
https://lemmy.world/post/48990465

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BCsven@lemmy.ca on 03 Jul 20:38 next collapse

If you’ve ever tried one it will go for a 45 seconds to a minute plus maybe. You have ball misalignment, air resistance oscillations in the frame, etc all sapping away the energy.

GreenBeard@lemmy.ca on 03 Jul 21:10 collapse

Depends on the dimensions of the device, density and spring coefficient of the pendulums, and density and composition of the medium (air, water, vacuum, etc.) the pendulums are swinging in. Under ideal conditions, it’s going to lose energy slightly faster than a typical pendulum, because it’s losing impact energy making the sound.