Description
Newton’s Pendulum is named after Sir Isaac Newton, a famous scientist from the 17th century who played a significant role in developing physical principles related to the behavior of objects in motion.
The exhibit consists of a series of metal balls hanging next to each other. When the first ball falls against the row of stationary balls, the force transfers through the balls, causing the last ball to swing up with almost the same speed and height as the first one.
This occurs due to the laws of conservation of momentum and energy, meaning that there is almost no energy loss during the collision between the balls.
This principle plays a significant role, for example, in designing sports equipment like a baseball bat. In this case, you want the energy with which someone swings the bat to be transferred as efficiently as possible to the ball.
In the energy sector, there is also extensive research on energy conservation: if it is possible to transmit energy without loss, we would require less energy to keep our world running.
How can you transfer energy and motion?
- Lift a ball and then release it.
- What do you observe?
