Figure: An animation of Newton's cradle

Image linked to original source;
Image description: An animation of Newton's cradle

Figure: An animation of Newton's cradle

Caption: "An animation of Newton's cradle resting on a copy of Isaac Newton's (1643--1727) famous book the Principia (1687)---NOT an exact copy, though---Newton's portrait added on top is artistic liberty." (Slightly edited.)

This ideal Newton's cradle exhibits exact conservation of mechanical energy since NO mechanical energy is dissipated to waste heat by friction, air drag, or any other process. Mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy in this case.

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Image Credit/Permission: © Dominique Toussaint (AKA User:DemonDeLuxe), 2006 (uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by User:Scetoaux, 2008) / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Image link: Wikimedia Commons: File:Newtons cradle animation book 2.gif.
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File: Physics file: newton_cradle_animation.html .