Pöschel T, Nasato DS, Parteli EJR, Gallas J, Müller P (2019)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2019
Book Volume: 87
Pages Range: 255-263
Journal Issue: 4
DOI: 10.1119/1.5088805
An impressive ping-pong ball cannon can be made by placing a bottle of liquid nitrogen at the bottom of a container and quickly covering it with, say, 1500 ping-pong balls. The liquid turns rapidly into a gas whose mounting pressure explodes the bottle, sending a swarm of balls upward out of the container. Surprisingly, the container also moves upward. This is a counterintuitive effect because the balance of forces, that is, Newton's third law does not seem to allow the container to move upwards. We explain the effect as a consequence of granular jamming in combination with Coulomb's friction law. (C) 2019 American Association of Physics Teachers.
APA:
Pöschel, T., Nasato, D.S., Parteli, E.J.R., Gallas, J., & Müller, P. (2019). Ping-pong ball cannon: Why do barrel and balls fly in the same direction? American Journal of Physics, 87(4), 255-263. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5088805
MLA:
Pöschel, Thorsten, et al. "Ping-pong ball cannon: Why do barrel and balls fly in the same direction?" American Journal of Physics 87.4 (2019): 255-263.
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