Students will love this simple but impressive experiment! The “apparatus” consists of a pair of heavy (454g) hardened, chrome plated steel balls.
The demonstrator holds one ball in each hand a few inches apart, and an assistant holds a piece of paper between the balls. The demonstrator strikes the balls sharply together. Immediately, a hole with charred edges appears in the paper, with a smell of burning!
Since the hardened balls are not deformed on impact, most of the kinetic energy of the collision is converted to heat (and sound).
This is sufficient to burn a hole through the paper.
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