Physics Puzzle: Newton’s Cradle
We’ve all seen this executive toy somewhere:
As the ball comes down and a collision occurs, it comes to rest while another ball at the other end rises up. This repeats ad infinitum - at least in theory - and illustrates perfectly the principle of conservation of momentum - the momentum of the colliding ball on […]
Physics Puzzle: a Race Between Two Marbles
For our weekly puzzle, here is a physics brainteaser to test your mechanics skills (did I mention already those are my favorite puzzles?)
Consider a marble which rolls from start to finish along one of two paths: either an inclined, yet straight plane (B), or a series of valleys and hills passing below that plane (A). […]
Physics Puzzle: Rope Between Two Poles
A good puzzle, someone once told me, is one that can be solved by a bright high-schooler, and yet challenge even a seasoned practitioner. As a puzzle-aficionado, I second that notion, which is why mechanics puzzles are my favorites. It is the most intuitive discipline and the first to be studied in both high school […]
The Pendulum and Truck Puzzle
Still working on the next part of our neural networks tutorial, but in the meantime, a puzzle.
A stationary truck has a pendulum of length L and mass m attached to the top of its insides (see figure A below). The truck driver hits the acceleration and as a result everything sort of gets “thrown back” […]
The Ice, Water and Oil Riddle
Well, this is not really a riddle but more of a fun experiment.
We all know ice floats on water. We also know oil floats on water. Now the question is, if we take a glass and fill it with 50% water and 50% oil, and afterwards drop in an ice cube, where will […]
The Psychotic Train Riders Puzzle
Here is a somewhat cruel physics puzzle which illustrates the idea of momentum conservation.
Consider a train full of passengers moving along on a frictionless rail at a constant speed, v. In order to increase its speed, the passengers decide to throw themselves off the back end of the train, making use of the principle of […]
An Energy Conservation Puzzle
Here’s a puzzle that makes lots of experienced physicists pause for a moment - or two!
Suppose you have a cart at the top of an inclined hill. Initially, the cart only has potential energy, equal to mgh. As it descends to the bottom of the mountain, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, […]