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Ahh, but do they understand it? The fact is that third graders (age 8+)
The Newton's cradle apparatus offers an easy, clear
demonstration:
-- initial: ball #1 in motion, incoming;
balls #2,3,4,5 at rest.
-- final: ball #5 in motion, outgoing;
balls #1,2,3,4 at rest.
Momentum de-accumulates from ball #1 and accumulates in
ball #5. Momentum flows through balls #2,3,4 without
accumulating there.
This is profoundly important physics ... yet it is easy
to understand, easier than the force laws. I have no
trouble explaining this to third-graders.