Will temperature affect the number of oscillations of Newton’s Cradle?

Grade:

6

Teacher:

Dawn Popovic

I did an experiment with Newton’s Cradle to see if temperature changes how it works. I thought the temperature wouldn't make a difference, but I was wrong! I tested the cradle at room temperature, after cooling it in the fridge and inside an oven at 170 degrees. I used a camera and special computer software to count how many times the balls swung back and forth. It turns out that when the cradle was cold, the balls didn't swing as many times and stopped moving sooner. But when the cradle was heated in the oven, the balls swung for longer and bounced more, probably because the wires were more flexible, so energy transferred better between the balls and the motion lasted longer. This experiment taught me that temperature can actually change how things like Newton's Cradles work!

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