Editing Newton's cradle (section)

==History==
{{Mcn section|date=September 2024}}[[File:American Science and Surplus - Newton's Cradle.jpg|thumb|right|Large Newton's cradle at American Science and Surplus]]
The principle demonstrated by the device, the law of impacts between bodies, was first demonstrated by the French [[physicist]] [[Edme Mariotte|Abbé Mariotte]] in the 17th century.<ref name=Harvard/><ref>[[Wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Edme Mariotte]]</ref> His work on the topic was first presented to the [[French Academy of Sciences]] in 1671; it was published in 1673 as ''Traité de la percussion ou choc des corps'' ("Treatise on percussion or shock of bodies").<ref>[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9692103z/f139.item.zoom# Traité de la percussion ou choc des corps]</ref>

Newton acknowledged Mariotte's work, along with Wren, Wallis and Huygens as the pioneers of experiments on the collisions of pendulum balls, in his ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]''.

[[Christiaan Huygens]] used pendulums to study collisions. His work, ''De Motu Corporum ex Percussione'' (On the Motion of Bodies by Collision) published posthumously in 1703, contains a version of [[Newton's first law]] and discusses the collision of suspended bodies including two bodies of equal mass with the motion of the moving body being transferred to the one at rest.

There is much confusion over the origins of the modern Newton's cradle. Marius J. Morin has been credited as being the first to name and make this popular [[executive toy]].{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} However, in early 1967, an English actor, [[Simon Prebble]], coined the name "Newton's cradle" (now used generically) for the wooden version manufactured by his company, Scientific Demonstrations Ltd.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schulz |first=Chris |title=How Newton's Cradles Work |url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/newtons-cradle.htm |website=HowStuffWorks |access-date=27 February 2019 |language=en |date=17 January 2012}}</ref> After some initial resistance from retailers, they were first sold by [[Harrods]] of London, thus creating the start of an enduring market for executive toys.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} Later a very successful chrome design for the Carnaby Street store Gear was created by the sculptor and future film director [[Richard Loncraine]].{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

The largest cradle device in the world was designed by ''[[MythBusters]]'' and consisted of five one-ton concrete and steel [[rebar]]-filled buoys suspended from a steel truss.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} The buoys also had a steel plate inserted in between their two-halves to act as a "contact point" for transferring the energy; this cradle device did not function well because concrete is not elastic so most of the energy was lost to a heat buildup in the concrete. A smaller-scale version constructed by them consists of five {{convert|6|in|cm|adj=on|order=flip|0}} chrome steel ball bearings, each weighing {{convert|33|lb|kg|order=flip|0}}, and is nearly as efficient as a desktop model.

The cradle device with the largest-diameter collision balls on public display was visible for more than a year in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]], Wisconsin, at the retail store American Science and Surplus (see photo). Each ball was an inflatable exercise ball {{convert|26|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}} in diameter (encased in steel rings), and was supported from the ceiling using extremely strong magnets. It was dismantled in early August 2010 due to maintenance concerns.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}