The main mechanism of the Newton’s Cradle is that the released marble hits its adjacent marble, which then acts as a chain reaction causing the energy to be transferred down the line of marbles, ultimately resulting in the upwards swinging motion of the last marble. This mechanism is also a simple yet effective way to show the energy transfer from potential (when the initial marble is held up) to kinetic (when the energy is being transferred through the marbles causing the movement).
Much of my initial planned out structure for my Newton’s Cradle design was changed in terms of its dimensions and positioning. The original plan was to have a 2cm thickness for all pieces of the wooden structure with 4 supporting pillars touching the edge of the base. Due to material thickness limits, my new plan cut the thickness to either 10mm or 5mm, and also cut the width of the higher supporting pieces from 2cm to 1cm. Similarly, the positioning of the pillars were also adjusted inwards as otherwise the length of the higher supporting pieces would not be enough to be able to touch both sides of the structure.
As for the main area of improvement for my project, it would definitely be the material of the string used for the Newton’s Cradle. The string that was threaded through the marbles of my project was elastic string, which caused some problems as it was too stretchy. This impacted the result of the my project as it decreased the efficiency of the energy transfer through the marbles, which resulted it potentially less swings of the finished project. If I were to change this I would choose a string material that would not be or does not even stretch so that I can minimize the wasted energy from the string material aspect of this project.
Something that I learned throughout this project is to always have a backup idea for your designs. In terms of this project, time was an essential issue, which meant that the design could not be too complicated since it had to be finished within the allotted time frame. My initial design had to change many times as I was trying to find fairly balanced dimensions. The thickness then also had to change due to the material, which costed even more time.
Overall, I think my Newton’s Cradle project was successful as I was able to finish within the allotted time frame, and the finished project can indeed show functionality similar to the original Newton’s Cradle mechanism. The dimensions and pillars are quite balanced, and the glass marbles can be adjusted into one line.