Calculating Force of a Free Falling Weight: 500 lb Steel Ball

[Dale Murphy]

can someone help me with this.
you have a free falling weight such as a 500 lb. steel ball dropping from 3 ft. How much force will the weight produce in ft. lbs. or tons when hitting the ground. what is the formula for figuring this. Also, will the amount of force double if dropped from 6 ft? Triple from 9 ft.?
Thanks

 

[The legend]

this comes under the topic of impulse and collisions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulse_(physics )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision

here, there are several cases to be considered as in real life. But assuming the collision is perfectly elastic, then the impulse of the ball would be the change in the momentum just before and after the collision. This divided by the fractional time taken for the collision would give you the force.