Weighted ping-pong balls can fall endlessly through a granular medium (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- When a meteor impacts a planet or a moon, it always stops at a relatively shallow depth, even when impacting at high speeds. Until now, researchers have assumed that all objects impacting a granular medium – such as sand or beads – rapidly lose energy and stop at a shallow depth. But in a new study, researchers have demonstrated that weighted ping-pong balls impacting a 600-cm (20-ft)-long tube filled with polystyrene beads can reach a terminal velocity, which allows the balls to continue sinking endlessly to an infinite depth.

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