Fourteen studies of percussion and rebound
Spheres striking hard, soft, yielding and resonant barriers, and equal or unequal bodies colliding
A column of fourteen small diagrams, each with a one-line caption, sets out the outcomes of impact. A moving sphere rebounds from a stationary object, drives into and penetrates a soft one, is bruised when it is itself soft against a hard object, deforms a yielding barrier, and rings against a bell. The remaining figures pair equal and unequal spheres colliding, showing that the greater weight travels less after impact, that equal weights meeting after unequal distances rebound differently, and that a blow may knock its object down, deflect, or shatter it.
On this page
Rebound from a stationary object
When the object is stationary, the striking thing rebounds backwards. A second image of the sphere marks the point of impact against the rigid barrier.
Penetration into a soft object
The moving thing drives into and penetrates a soft object; a curved stroke shows the far side of the barrier bowing outward under the impact.
A blow against a resonant object
A blow strikes a resonant object, drawn as a bell, from which the sphere rebounds. A second image of the sphere marks the point of impact.
The greater weight travels less
In the collision of two unequal spheres, the course of the greater weight is considerably less than the course of the lesser weight. The smaller body's rebound was first drawn longer, then corrected to a shorter length.
Equal weights at unequal distances
For equal weights meeting after unequal distances, the one with the lesser course rebounds backwards more than the other, by as many times as the lesser course enters into the greater.
A blow that shatters
A blow may break and shatter in the percussion with its object; here the sphere splits into three rebounding pieces against an upright barrier.