Chain fountain

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/chain-fountain

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the physical phenomenon?Chain fountain
2. What is the associated names?Self-siphoning beads, Newton's beads
3. Why does the chain rise higher when the falling part is longer?The longer the falling part, the more momentum it has, so it pulls the chain higher. The height of the arc is directly related to the length of the falling chain.
4. How does the chain keep moving up after it starts?As long as some chain is falling, it keeps giving momentum to the rest. The falling links transfer their energy to the links still in the jar, which pushes them upward.

Kinetic Energy: The energy an object possesses due to its motion.
Inelastic Collision: A collision in which kinetic energy is not conserved, often resulting in deformation or heat.
Emergent Behavior: Properties of a system that arise from the interactions of its components but are not present in the individual components.