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Music

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Narrator: This is a very simple activity that models the supernova explosion

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that takes place at the end of a large star's life.

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The only supplies you will need are two balls of different sizes for each person

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that is participating. A tennis ball and a ping pong ball are perfect for this.

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If we drop just the tennis ball, it bounces a foot or two.

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If we drop just the ping pong ball in the same way, it again

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bounces, but not as high. When we drop them both together,

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with the ping pong ball stacked on top of the tennis ball, the ping pong ball

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goes flying off even further, and the tennis ball basically stays where it is.

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The reason this happens is that when the tennis ball hits the

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floor, its energy is transferred to the ping pong ball.

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In this model, the balls represent layers of the star's

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atmosphere that are falling inward during its implosion. These falling

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layers meet the energy from the iron core- represented by the floor in our activity-

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and rebound, shooting off into space in a dramatic supernova explosion.

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Music