Marble experiment (referring to momentum)?

[sagpod]

marbles are kept in a row like OOOOOO
when one marble is hit on one side, one marble is displaced from other side ;
when two marbles are hit on one side, two marbles are displaced on the other side;
and same with three and four marbles ...

WHY the same numbers of marbles are displaced as the number of marbles are hit ??

 

[tiny-tim]

welcome to pf!

hi sagpod! welcome to pf!

WHY the same numbers of marbles are displaced as the number of marbles are hit ??

conservation of momentum and conservation of energy

 

[rcgldr]

Link to article explaining this effect:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/scenario/cradle.htm

Previous thread about thsi:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=357358