Images: Bouncy Ball Skips on Water Like a Rock

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Skipping Sphere

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball, sold as the Waboba, approaches the water. This toy features strange physics: It bounces on water, but not on land. Research presented in March 2014 at a meeting of the American Physical Society revealed that the ball's elasticity explains this ability.

Bouncy physics

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

Plop

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

Splash

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

Whoosh

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

The escape

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

Soaring spin

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

(Image credit: Tadd Truscott)

An elastic ball that bounces on water, the Waboba, flattens like a pancake when it hits the water surface, increasing its lift and propelling it upward.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.