ah. good point. in fact, this is causing a problem. I'm experimenting with actual newton's cradles (putting different sizes together) and it looks like only the last ball flies out when a heavy first ball hits. arg. the other balls move a little but *less* than they do when I drop a first ball of normal mass. very odd. On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 7:49 PM, Tom Karzes <karzes@sonic.net> wrote:
If you only have a single additional ball (i.e. the heavy ball and one normal ball), then I believe the normal ball should move off at (4/3)v, while the heavier ball continues moving in the same direction at (1/3)v.
When you add additional balls it becomes more complex. If there were some distance between the balls it would be simpler, but because they're touching, the secondary collisions are happening almost instantaneously, making it much more sensitive to any imperfections that might affect the timing.
Tom
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