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Gravesandes Ball Experiment

Live experimentFamily oriented
DateFri 22.9.
Time12:10 - 12:30
Price0 kr
LanguageNO
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What is kinetic energy? Find out and interact using a physics experiment from the 18th century!

Pop by the Gunnerus library where you will be able to see an exhibition of both Newton's original work Principia, but also other exciting and old works that have meant a lot to the development of our understanding of energy today.

Kinetic energy also called the energy of motion, is the ENERGY an object has due to its speed. A body at rest has no kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is closely related to Newton's laws. The first of Newton's laws deals with the knowledge that a body that is not subjected to any external force will either lie still or move at a constant speed in a straight line.


This agrees with the equation for kinetic energy. If the body is not exposed to any external force, the energy will remain the same, and therefore the speed must also remain the same.

The exhibition shows both the first edition of Newton's original "Principia" and Émilie du Châtelet's writings.


Émilie de Châtelet was in the audience when Dutch physicist William Gravesande demonstrated the experiment to the public for the very first time.

The experiment is led by researcher Rolf Jonas Persson from the Department of Physics, the man behind the blog Physics for Fakirs, where he shares his thoughts on life, the universe, physics, teaching, learning, and everything else...
Location: Gunnerus Library entrance, free entrance.

Please note that photos will be taken during the festival on the 22nd and 23rd of September. The images will only be used for communication and information related to the festival going forward.

Meet the speakers