In this amazing video, colorful bowling balls hang at slightly different heights and start swinging together, but soon separate in a ripple. A swing always takes the same amount of time to swing from back to front, no matter how much you weigh or far back you push. The length of the chains is all that changes the timing – longer swings take longer. Watch the video to hear the bowling balls make a surprising sound as they swing!
Wee ones:What shape is a bowling ball? Can you find that shape in your room?
Little kids:If 1 bowling ball swings 3 feet above the ground and another swings 4 feet above ground, which one is higher?Bonus:If there are 14 balls between the first and last, how many are swinging in total?
Big kids:After every one of the 16 balls has made 4 full round trips (right to left and right again), how many notes have you heard them clink in total? (They clink at both the front and back.)Bonus:If the balls play the musical notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then C to start the pattern again over, what note does the 16th ball play?
The sky’s the limit:If the slowest-period ball takes 5 seconds to swing from front to back, the one in the middle takes 4 seconds, and the fastest-period ball takes just 3 ½ seconds, how many seconds will it be before they all line up again on the right?
Answers:
Wee ones:A circle from the side, or in 3D, a “sphere.” Look for spheres of any kind in your room!
Little kids:The ball 4 feet above ground.Bonus:16 balls.
Big kids:128 notes, since 4 full round trips means every ball clinks its bar 8 times.Bonus:High D, since the first 14 cover the 1st 2 sets of 7 notes.
The sky’s the limit:At 280 seconds, or 4 minutes 40 seconds. The key here is that while 20 is a common multiple of 4 and 5, at 20 seconds the 5-second ball has done 2 full round trips and is on the right, while the 4-second ball has done only 2 ½ trips and is on the left. So they line up only every 40 seconds. For the 3 ½-second ball to meet them there, it needs to do an even number of 7-second round trips, and the smallest common multiple of 40 and 7 is 280.
