Cue ball force(?) at impact with other ball

[bill duffy]

When a cue ball is driven into another ball, it is either not accelerating or decelerating at impact. It has momentum but not (positive) force. What (work?) is imparted to the struck ball, and in what units of measurement?

 

[rcgldr]

If it's a straight line collision with no spin on the cue ball at the time of impact, then during the collision, the cue ball and target ball compress at the point of contact, the cue ball decelerates, and the target ball accelerates. Billiard balls are very stiff, so the duration of the collision is a short period of time.