Customer Reviews

Newtons Cradle 7 1/4 inch

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Sometimes it is hard to tell the sturdiness of a product when purchasing online. This product is sturdy and well made. It was a gift for my 11 yr old son who agrees that it doesn't look like a toy but has all the fun of one. My son has explored scientific principles with this and I highly recommend it. Delivery service was expedient and well packaged.

I had read some reviews on other versions of this product (from different manufacturers) and became greatly concerned about the quality in terms of strings tangling, poor craftsmanship, plastic instead of metal etc etc... after much scouring and reading of reviews, I finally decided to take a chance on this particular version... the choice was definitely a good one! I found the craftsmanship to be of fine quality, and the balls seemed to line up just fine. My only tiniest of complaints (not even a complain really, but just a minor nitpick) is that I wish the action of the product lasted a little bit longer... but for the price paid, i'd say it did just fine.

I purchased this item for my 11 year old grandson. It arrived very quickly and his parents said he was thrilled when he received it. He called me to thank me and I "listened" to it operate over the phone. He has had it a few days now and is still enjoying it. I am a bit surprised. I thought it would be something he would get bored with quickly, but apparently that is not the case. He did tell me if you hold the balls too high, the strings will get tangled, however, they are not hard to untangle. So, this item is a hit with my grandson.

As another customer experienced, I received it with one of the the fish lines broken. I fixed it with 5 min epoxy and dental floss, tying a knot to note where the floss should meet the ball for correct height, and two more for the epoxy on the top of the ball to grab onto. The 4th ball was out of alignment and I managed to stretch the fish line without breaking it to get it closer in line.

The vertical distance from the supports to the balls is 5.5 inches. The balls are good quality (not chrome plated, probably nickel plated) and weight 45 grams, 2.2 cm diameter. It has 30 to 40 swings back and forth, 0.39 seconds between strikes, before becoming small and nonexistent at about 80. Reviewers complain that the balls move too much, even after the first strike, but this is normal if the balls are touching before the first strike. The 4th ball moves noticeably forward and the first 3 move back ever so slightly in accordance with a detailed physics explanation (see wikipedia). The silver support bar is cheap plastic.

As another reviewer said, I seem to remember cleaner and more distinct action as a child, but heavier balls would not improve it. A video on youtube shows what appears to be the exact same balls with a different support working much better, so the alignment must be crucial. An improvement would be if if the balls were slightly separated, but this would require reworking the wire connections and being very careful about the alignment. With a separation, the first strike is a sequence of independent collisions which prevents the intermediate balls from moving. Contrary to intuition, touching balls decreases the effect, making the 4th ball move more and the 5th ball move less, at least on the 1st strike. You can confirm this by sliding quarters on a table under the two conditions of almost-touching and not touching. The almost touching condition should send the 5th quarter further.

If I manage to re-string the device with a slight separation between balls, I'll post a video to show the difference.

As others have said, I wanted a more professional very, but was not able to find it anywhere.

Newton's Cradle, 7.0" toy is of very poor quality. The center balls will swing and bounce around due to poor balancing rather than transferring momentum as they should. This "toy" has very little educational value and is not recommended.

I bought this for my husband since he's wanted one for some time now. I looked around & bought the one that sounded the most durable because I saw they break easily. I kid you not, TEN minutes of just normal use, no roughing on it or anything, & it broke! I was really upset. Husband loved it while it worked, but that was so short lived I can't even rate it based on that time. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!

This is a good toy. The balls can get tangled if you pull the first ball too high. Bought this for my daughter, and she's very happy with it.

First of all, I know that this is a toy and not a strict teaching tool. However, upon use, the center three balls began to separate and sway from moment of first impact. The overall balls in / balls out is intact but expect lots of motion in between. I'm not sure that this lessens the fun, but it doesNewton's Cradle - Newton's Cradle, 7.0" [Toy] damper the conservation of energy principle. Wanna play...this is your toy. Wanna educate...not so much. I'm not sure any one else makes a better one.

3 out of the five balls had broken off by the time this reached me. I guess it may be a nice kit to build your own Newton's cradle.

I think that this toy is really cool, I think it's fun to see the way it works and how it moves... But I have one major complaint...

The metal pieces don't fit into the board correctly.
It makes me kinda mad.

Those little metal pieces are just a millimeter or two too long to fit in the holes they're supposed to. Even then, it's still pretty sturdy, but you shouldn't just get away with having a mis-fitted product.

I mean... It's cool... And I REALLY wanted to like it... But I plan on asking for a refund on it. To me, it's just not acceptable to make your toy mis-fitted like that.

UPDATE: After more than 20 minutes of playing with it, I have many more complaints:
1) It only goes 12 seconds (on average) before dying out
2) When the strings get entangled, it's just hell to mess with
3) The middle balls swing around instead of staying still (like they should).
4) It just looks unprofessional. (Particularly where the strings go through the top of the balls, and where the strings are attatched to the metal part)