Aim: to find out which surface bounces a ball the highest. Balls bounce in ways that are affected by gravity. Easy Experiment This scientific mystery can be demonstrated at home or school with a simple experiment. Try comparing a hot day to a cold day. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Steel balls bounce higher than rubber balls. "Under Pressure: Ball Bouncing Dynamics.". When the temperature of a tennis ball changes, it becomes more elastic and has an intriguing reaction with its gas-filled core. Then they would be dropped from a table, and the height would be measured. The first independent variable that will be tested. For multiple bounces, it's just like dropping the ball again from a reduced height. When the ball hits the floor and stops, that energy has to go somewhere. One way to do this is to put the ball in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. If you play in hot weather, your balls may bounce significantly more. The tennis balls bounce in different ways. This will be called the average of the middle three repeats. As the ball is accelerating due to gravity, at 9.81m/s2it is constantly getting faster and therefore the drag force gets bigger and bigger. A decrease in h1, assuming g and m stay constant, results in a decrease in m g h1which results in a decrease in GPE. This will be a table tennis ball. Balls bounce high, allowing players to dictate how much spin they want to put on the ball. Set up the graph by putting a scale of the air pressure on the bottom of the graph (X-axis) and the height of the bounce on the left side of the graph (Y-axis). however, by bringing a ladder or stool to catch the balls perfectly on time. SCIENTIFIC Method Aim & Hypothesis Method Variables Risk Assessment Results Conclusion & discussion A lot of Therefore, The height of the ball at each bounce is then calculated. In this experiment you will use a ball filled with air. The maximum and minimum results were included when working out the variation between results however, seeing as the maximum and minimum results were produced by the experiment and are therefore part of the variation between results produced by the experiment. Method: 1. Reverse Engineering: Ball Bounce Experiment Hands-on Activity Reverse Engineering: Ball Bounce Experiment (2 Ratings) Click here to rate Quick Look Partial design process Grade Level: 4 (3 - 5) Time Required: 1 hours 45 minutes (2 or 3 class periods) Group Size: 3 Subject Areas: Students investigate balls and their bounce copyright Summary bounces the highest on smooth concrete. Do five drops on your first surface. Tennis balls bounce due to 3 factors which all work seamlessly together: 1. Therefore the height the ball bounces will be proportional to the height that the ball is dropped from up to a certain point, where the ball begins to show signs of reaching its terminal velocity before it reaches the ground. Some of the kinetic energy of the ball is lost during the collision with the floor and the ball will not return to the original height. Here is another activity that tests temperature and bounce using golf balls and baseballs: There are many other great ball projects in this fun book: ball pressure gauge (available at a sporting goods store). Air density will not change enough to affect the flight of the ball seeing as all the results will be collected during a brief period on one day. The tennis ball was then dropped from various heights; 1, 1.5 and 2 meters above a hard surface, using a meter ruler, before it was dropped onto the ground and the resulting bounce height measured. Therefore the results are valid. It was more reliable to use the middle three results as it automatically discounted any anomalies; assuming two similar anomalies were recorded for one height, if they were then they both would be discounted. Although catching small balls was an issue, we solved it by getting our better Such an impact compresses the ball 1.4-1.6 inches, or about 54-62% of its diameter. Does height make a difference? This will hopefully discount any anomalies automatically and leave us with three accurate and reliable results. Tennis players typically deal with the heat in one of two ways: cooling down before the match or taking a quick dip before the match. As a result, they move at a slower rate of speed with less energy. The same square of tiling will be used throughout the experiment so that inconsistencies between different floor tiles do not affect results. Find a clear space to work in. B. No balls will be allowed to roll around upon the floor creating possible tripping hazards, Safety spectacles will be worn at all times, Clamp stand, meter rule 2, table tennis ball, desk. Anyone, regardless of age or ability, can take part in tennis on a court with a ball. Gravel got bounced on the least, 1 time . You may print and distribute up to 200 copies of this document annually, at no charge, for personal and classroom educational use. The more KE that the ball possessed as it hit the floor, the more that was transferred into elastic potential energy and back into KE. The decision for the size of interval and the amount of results collected will depend upon the time taken to conduct the experiment and any other factors that may become apparent during the preliminary experiment. You can even play tennis outside in any weather. This is because as the ball goes faster it passes through a greater volume of air each second. How can you measure the height a ball bounces? Use the pressure gauge to release some of the air pressure from the ball. This proves that the higher h1the more h2will differ from the height that the ball would have reached had it been dropped in a vacuum. This would provide evidence on how the height from which the ball is dropped from affects the height to which it bounces without air resistance. Copyright 2002-2023 Science Buddies. The drop weight then bounces off the ball with 68-77 percent of its incident speed (46-59% of its incident energy). Warmer balls bounce better than cold ones. Decide on a height you want to drop the balls from . These both support my prediction and show that my prediction was correct. Make a line graph of your data. Air resistance exists but does not affect the velocity of the ball significantly. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The average variation between results was 3cm. September 28, 2022 by George Jackson. Above this point the height all balls will bounce to will not be directly proportional to the height they are dropped from, but the increase in the height they bounce to will increase more slowly in proportion to the height they are dropped from compared to the increase between lower heights before the ball shows signs of approaching its terminal velocity before it hits the ground. Try the experiment again, but this time change how high the ball is dropped instead of the air pressure of the ball. When it hits the ground, the bottom of the ball becomes flat against the floor. As the ball hits the floor with less KE than it would have done if it had been dropped in a vacuum it follows that less energy is converted into elastic potential energy and back into KE again. Its not just a game for the wealthy; its also a game for everyone. In modern tennis, the differences and subtleties of each surface tend to disappear. The temperature of a hollow ball influences the amount of air in the chamber. 70% is retained. Responding Variable: The height of the bounce in centimeters (these are the results that you will count) Steps: Have your partner hold the meter stick upright on the first surface. Playing in shade and with a bit of air movement is still a good idea if you want to get some exercise in the sun, but if you play outside in the shade with no breeze, you should stay in a cooler temperature range. Bending Plant Roots with Gravity Lesson Plan Introduction. The energy chain is as follows: Therefore as energy cannot be created or destroyed the energy the ball starts with must be directly proportional to the energy the ball finishes with, at the top of its bounce, and so if the ball starts with more energy it must therefore finish with more. Do different kinds of balls bounce differently? When contact is made with the ground, the molecules in the tennis ball stretch apart and the shape of the ball changes to more of an oval shape. We did this by bouncing different types of balls Place the video camera on a level that will be able to clearly record the experiment, whilst a person sits beside the tape measurer 4. This means that we can approximately calculate the amount of energy that the ball conserves as it hits the floor and therefore the height to which it will bounce for any given height in a vacuum. As the ball is released, gravity pulls it downwards and transforms it into motion. We, chose balls and surfaces with different hardnesses, textures and compositions in, order to give a fair experiment. Temperature will not affect the balls bounce either as the experiment will be conducted at room temperature, thus not allowing the floor to get cold and in doing so alter its affect upon the ball on impact. One of the hunks of information we found was The higher the ball is, the more it will bounce when you warm it up in cold weather. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The impact duration was between 65 and 71 ms. - Basketball x One of the hunks of information we found was, it goes back into the ball, giving it more force to pop back up into the air. It should be tall enough to hang up behind your ladder, about 5feet tall. Therefore the ball dropped from the higher height must give out more thermal energy in order to end up with the same amount of energy as the other ball. small balls sometimes, but we could have improved this by taking many attempts It should be on a smooth cement surface for optimal ball bouncing. The more energy that the ball possessed before being dropped, the more energy was converted into KE while the ball fell. So whether you're looking to learn more about the sport or just stay up-to-date on the latest news, we've got you covered. Drop (do not throw) the ball from a carefully measured height using the meter stick. The chains stretch back out as rubber cools, allowing the original form to return. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. rubber ball would bounce the highest on concrete. These inaccuracies could have been caused by external factors or parallax error even though efforts were made to avoid parallax error occurring - by dropping the ball one time that was not measured and placing a blob of blue tack onto the meter rule at the approximate height it bounced to. Why a ball bounces: The ball's energy is matched by the ground it hits. The force of the ball hitting the ground causes it to bounce up, because it puts an equal force on the ball. When I drop the different balls onto the rocks from the bed of a truck, I believe the tennis ball will have the highest bounce. For instance, you can use old balls for the second round of the experiment compared to new balls. Height the ball bounced to (average of middle three) when dropped from: 10cm = 6.7 6.7 = 66% of 10 (to the nearest percent), 20cm = 14.0 14.0 = 70% of 20 (to the nearest percent), 30cm = 22.3 22.3 = 74% of 30 (to the nearest percent). An alternative method would be the measuring person holding a video camera level with the approximate height that the ball reaches after bouncing and videoing the ball reach the top of its arc. Drag is a squared function of velocity and therefore as the ball drops drag increases a greater amount each second. A cold tennis ball bounces lower than a warm one. This means it will be travelling the same speed when it hits the ground. 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tennis ball bounce on different surfaces experiment