Make Your Own Newton’s Cradle

Try this fun experiment to make the famous Newton’s cradle. The universe has many different types of forces interacting every day.

See and understand Newton’s first law of motion and how friction works!

Materials

At least 5 marbles (same sizes)
Popsicle sticks
Hot glue gun and glue sticks and/or Tape
String
Scissors

How to Create a Newton's Cradle

Step 1

Take a few popsicle sticks, lay them beside one another and glue them together to create a flat rectangular shaped base. Glue more popsicle sticks across that row.

STEM Q for You: Does intertwining them help with the stability of the structure? How can you make sure that the structure is stable? … Adding more popsicles together can help to reinforce the structure so that it doesn’t collapse. Having popsicle sticks fastened in two different directions will improve the overall structure and lifetime against the force of the marbles swinging.

Step 2

Now that you have created the base of the structure, use more popsicle sticks to create a 3D rectangle. Attach popsicle sticks to each of the corners of the base made in step 1, this will form the walls of your cradle. Layer another popsicle stick directly on top of each to reinforce the structure.

Step 3

Create the “roof” of your cradle by simply attaching a popsicle stick between each of the four popsicle sticks attached in the previous step. This should create an open rectangle shape. Layer another popsicle stick over each of the popsicle sticks forming the roof to reinforce the structure.

Step 4

Put this off to the side for now.

Step 5

Cut 10 pieces of string to all the same length.

Step 6

Take five of the same sized marbles and using hot glue or tape, carefully tape two pieces of string to each of the marbles, making sure that they both point in the same direction. Be sure to only tape where the string touches the marble!

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

What is Newton’s First Law of Motion?

Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion or at rest stays in motion or at rest until an outside force acts upon it.

What Makes Newton's Cradle Move?

Newton’s first law of motion! The marbles all begin at rest but when acted by an external force (the movement of the marble behind it) the next marble begins to swing.

What is Friction?

Friction is a force that creates resistance when one surface or object moves over another object or surface. For example, when riding a bike, it is harder to ride on the grass than the sidewalk because there is more friction between your bike tires and the grass than between your bike tires and the sidewalk.

What is Potential Energy?

Potential energy is stored energy that is built up when you lift the marble. The more energy that is transferred into the marbles, the more momentum that it will have when you let it go. The height of the swinging marbles changes due to the amount of force that is being transferred through the marbles.

What Makes Newton's Cradle Stop?

Eventually, the marbles slow down and stop due to friction. The marbles each have friction between them. If there was no friction, the balls would keep on going because there isn’t anything to stop them from moving!