odd question concerning the sedimentation of particles from a plate

rarara

Hi there,

I had clumps of particles on the underside of a plate. A ball bearing was dropped onto the plate which caused the clumps to detach and fall a short distance through still air onto a gel-coated microscope slide. Presumably, the distribution of clump sizes was altered during the fall (fragmentation). I would like to simulate the the fragmentation but I require a formula for the force acting on the clumps. I assume that most of the fragmentation occured during the collision between the ball bearing and the plate. Could anyone advise me on how to approach this problem.

Thank you