Ali punches a mattress and then punches a wall with the same force. Why does Ali experience more pain while striking the wall?

Explanation

The rate of change in momentum when you hit the wall is more than when you hit a piece of sponge with an equal force.The rate of change in momentum is directly proportional to the force applied. Hitting a wall will hurt more than hitting the mattress. This can be explained as follows-Wall is hard, When you hit a wall, an equal reaction force acts on the hand and hurts it. When you hit the mattress, a part of the momentum of hand is transferred to the sponge. As a result, it gets deformed and the reaction is much less than the action.