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Narrator: This is a very simple activity that models the supernova explosion
that takes place at the end of a large star's life.
The only supplies you will need are two balls of different sizes for each person
that is participating. A tennis ball and a ping pong ball are perfect for this.
If we drop just the tennis ball, it bounces a foot or two.
If we drop just the ping pong ball in the same way, it again
bounces, but not as high. When we drop them both together,
with the ping pong ball stacked on top of the tennis ball, the ping pong ball
goes flying off even further, and the tennis ball basically stays where it is.
The reason this happens is that when the tennis ball hits the
floor, its energy is transferred to the ping pong ball.
In this model, the balls represent layers of the star's
atmosphere that are falling inward during its implosion. These falling
layers meet the energy from the iron core- represented by the floor in our activity-
and rebound, shooting off into space in a dramatic supernova explosion.
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