Asked by t

Why is Newton’s cradle (Newton’s balls) described as an “almost-ideal” closed system? Explain your reasoning in one or two sentences.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Because the balls exchange momentum and kinetic energy among themselves with negligible external interaction, the system closely approximates an isolated (closed) system obeying conservation laws. It is only "almost" ideal because real collisions aren’t perfectly elastic and there are small losses to air resistance, sound and internal friction.