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Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Impacts of Free-falling Spheres on a Deep Liquid Pool with Altered Fluid and Impactor Surface Conditions
Published on: February 17, 2019
Impact force measurement of a spherical body dropping onto a water surface
R Araki1, A Takita1, T Ishima1
1School of Science and Technology, Gunma University, Kiryu, Tenjin-cho 1-5-1, 376-8515, Japan.
Abstract:
We propose a method for measuring the impact force of a spherical body dropping onto a water surface. The velocity of the center of gravity of a metal spherical body, in which a cube corner prism is embedded so that its optical center coincides with the center of gravity of the sphere, is accurately measured using an optical interferometer. The acceleration, displacement, and inertial force of the sphere are calculated from the velocity. The sphere is also observed using a high-speed camera. The uncertainty in measuring the instantaneous value of the impact force with a sampling interval of approximately 1 ms is estimated to be 8 mN, which corresponds to 0.8% of the maximum force of approximately 1.0 N.
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