Ping-pong ball cannon: Why do barrel and balls fly in the same direction?
Pöschel T, Nasato DS, Parteli EJR, Gallas J, Müller P (2019)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2019
Journal
Book Volume: 87
Pages Range: 255-263
Journal Issue: 4
DOI: 10.1119/1.5088805
Abstract
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.
Authors with CRIS profile
Thorsten Pöschel
Lehrstuhl für Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Jason Gallas
Lehrstuhl für Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Patric Müller
Lehrstuhl für Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
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://dx.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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