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We present an experimental study of the mechanical impulse propagation through a horizontal alignment of elastic spheres of progressively decreasing diameter : namely, a tapered chain. Experimentally, the diameters of spheres which interact via the Hertz potential are selected to keep as close as possible to an exponential decrease, , where the experimental tapering factor is either or . In agreement with recent numerical results, an impulse initiated in a monodisperse chain (a chain of identical beads) propagates without shape changes and progressively transfers its energy and momentum to a propagating tail when it further travels in a tapered chain. As a result, the front pulse of this wave decreases in amplitude and accelerates. Both effects are satisfactorily described by the hard-sphere approximation, and basically, the shock mitigation is due to partial transmissions, from …