Purpose: Demonstrate how the velocity is multiplied by a sequence of collisions between balls of decreasing mass.
Description: A ball of mass M moving with velocity V strikes a ball of mass m (less than M) initially at rest. For an elastic collision the velocity v with which the lighter ball leaves the scene will be v = 2VM/(M+m). This device has a series of balls, with masses in the same geometric ratio, to provide a velocity multiplication of about 16 from the biggest to the smallest. Click your mouse on the photograph to see a slow-motion video of the action.
