Galilean cannon (elastic collision)

Experiment no.: 1.7.6
Doppelball-Versuch (elastischer Stoss)
A tennis ball is placed on a basketball and both balls are dropped from a certain height. After hitting the ground, the tennis ball bounces upward far above its initial height. The reason is that after hitting the ground, the lower, heavier basketball transfers its momentum to the upper, lighter tennis ball, whose speed is strongly increased as a result.

Images for this experiment

Tennis and basketball
Basketball in motion
Tennisball in motion
Both balls in motion
Tennis ball bounces far up

Further links