Impulse in a Double Ball Bounce

A steel ball was dropped onto a handball which was resting on top of a horizontal Vernier force-plate. The relationship between the impact momentum of the steel ball and the impulse on the force-plate was investigated. The measured impulse was found to be proportional to the impact momentum of the falling ball, with the impulse being 2.3 times greater than the momentum. The impact of the metal ball caused the handball to compress and then bounce up following the steel ball’s bounce. This contributed to the measured impulse being greater than twice the impact momentum.