Stacked Ball Animation
"Stacked Ball Drop"
Another example of momentum transfer in elastic collisions.

Setting a tennis ball atop a basketball and dropping them together reveals that
the basketball can send the tennis ball flying upwards many times higher than normal.

This text is displayed if your browser does not support HTML5 Canvas.

-------> gravity
Under gravity, the stacked tennis ball and basketball fall to the right, impacting the Earth .
(Think of gravity as directed to the right. Or: Rotate the figure in your mind 90 deg. clockwise.)

Relative masses used: tennis ball : basketball : Earth = 1 : 11 : 1,000,000
(note: basketball/tennis ball = 22oz/2oz = 11)
– This simulation employs the same collision equations as the "Elastic Ball Collision Animation." –
___________________________________________
Thanks to Charles Crummer for suggesting this simulation.

Video demonstrations on the Web:
Gadsden State Community College - Physics & Astronomy Videos

Physics Support Specialist at Rutgers University