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

3 answers

Newton's cradle is described as an "almost-ideal" closed system because it demonstrates the principles of conservation of momentum and energy in a nearly perfect manner, but is affected by slight energy losses due to factors like air resistance, internal friction, and imperfect elastic collisions.

like a 9th grader

Newton's cradle is called an "almost-ideal" closed system because it shows how momentum and energy work well together, but it still loses a little energy due to things like air resistance and friction.