height of ball and first bounce height experiment

Height of Ball Bounce

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

(published on 10/22/2007)

Follow-Up #1: Bouncing balls

(published on 05/09/2008)

Follow-Up #2: Golf ball drop experiment

(published on 09/16/2009)

Follow-up on this answer

Related Questions

• different balls bouncing
• impact of football
• Momentum in squash
• weight of falling can
• Does the height of a ball bounce depend on the properties of the materials?
• Rebound height of a bouncing ball
• Accelerating feather?
• how does bounce change direction?
• Can you determine the mass of an object in free space?

Still Curious?

Expore Q&As in related categories

• Bouncing, Bumping & Crashing

What Are the Physics behind Bouncing Balls?

Studying the mechanics of bouncing balls is a great way to learn simple physics..

Trevor English

Richard Bartz/Wikimedia

We can all look back on our childhood memories and find, in some form or fashion, a bouncing ball . Whether it be shooting hoops with friends or tossing a tennis ball against the wall while we were grounded, we’ve all played with these bouncing toys.

While to most people, balls are rather unassuming objects; they actually serve as an interesting springboard into learning about many interesting physics phenomena. Acceleration, velocity, energy; you can learn it all by looking at the physics behind bouncing balls.

In any ball bounce, there are essentially seven stages that the action can be broken into during its motion, before, during, and after impact is examined.

Let’s break down the physics of bouncing balls.

To begin, we’ll look at the simplified seven stages of a ball bounce, ignoring any outside force other than gravity. We’ll break down each step in detail below with equations, but if you need a deeper visual, the video below will break that down too.

Stage 1: Falling

Stage one is the begging of every ball bounce, where potential energy from the height of the ball is converted into kinetic energy through acceleration due to gravity. In a simplified case, the ball falls in line with the force of gravity, which always points directly downward. On Earth, this acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2 (g= 9.8 m/s2). This means, in essence, that for every second of falling, the ball’s velocity will accelerate by 9.8 m/s.

Stage 2: Initial contact

The initial contact phase is just that; when the ball barely touches the ground surface. It will continue to fall under the influence of gravitational acceleration, but now, a normal force from the ground surface, opposing the force due to gravity, will act on the ball. Stage 3: Deceleration/negative acceleration.

After the initial impact, the ball rapidly decelerates or rather accelerates in a negative direction. The ball’s velocity still points downward as it deforms, but acceleration on the ball begins to point upward as the forces from the reaction overcome gravity. This all means that the ball is pushing on the ground with force greater than its own weight, so acceleration must point upward.

Stage 4: Maximum deformation

Following the deceleration stage, the ball has reached maximum deformation. The velocity is zero at this point, and the acceleration vector points upward. This is the lowest point of the ball, as well as its maximum deformed point. If we assume the ball to be totally elastic and ignore other energy losses like sound and heat, then the ball would bounce back up to its original drop height after this point.

Source: Headbomb/Wikimedia

Stage 5: Initial rebound

This stage begins the ball’s journey back to where it began. Its velocity and acceleration vectors point in the same direction, meaning upward movement. The ball is less deformed than the maximum deformation stage, and due to its elasticity, it is now pushing against the surface with a force greater than its own weight. This is what will cause the ball to bounce upward.

Stage 6: Zero contact rebound

The ball is no longer deformed at zero contact rebound and barely touches the surface, essentially only at one point. Velocity is moving the ball upward, but at this point, acceleration switches to oppose the velocity vector.

This is because there is no longer any force from the elasticity of the ball pushing on the surface, giving it an upward acceleration. Acceleration due to gravity pulling downward will now be the only force acting on the ball in a perfect system.

Stage 7: Full rebound

At full rebound, the ball has left the surface, and its velocity vector still points upward, though shrinking steadily due to the acceleration or deceleration due to gravity. Following this step, the ball will peak at a new step, where its velocity vector is zero, and gravity is the only force acting on it.

Added variables and special cases in bouncing ball physics

The case of the bouncing ball above was simplified to remove other forces like air resistance, imperfect elasticity, spin, friction, and the force from an initial throw, among others. All this means that bouncing ball physics gets more complicated from here.

When balls have any spin, as they usually do when thrown, and when the surface they hit isn’t frictionless, the ball’s spin reverses from before to after impact. This is due to the force of friction. Assuming 2-dimensions for theory’s sake, you can observe the reaction below.

As the ball impacts with a spin in one direction, the friction force F counteracts the ball’s spin. Or rather, the friction force is always opposite the direction of the slip velocity between the spinning ball and the surface. Since the friction force is opposite of the ball’s spin, it torques the ball in the other direction. It also causes the path of the ball’s bounce to skew in the direction of the friction force. In simplified terms, when a ball spins in one direction when it hits a wall, the friction between the ball and the wall overcomes the spin so much that it reverses its spin direction.

This spin reversal doesn’t happen if the ball and the wall’s coefficient of friction aren’t high enough. The coefficient of friction varies by material and surface and is essentially a number that indicates how grippy a surface or material is.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

In real-life non-ideal scenarios, bouncing balls lose energy and eventually come to a stop. This is all due to the forces we ignored in the first example. When a ball hits a wall or surface, it makes a noise, a loss of energy from the bounce. It also will generate some amount of heat, another loss of energy. Friction from the wall will cause energy loss and air resistance while the ball travels.

In essence, the ball will never have as much potential or kinetic energy as it had from right after it was thrown or right before it strikes a surface, depending on the scenario.

The Blueprint Daily

Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.

By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Trevor English <p>Trevor is a civil engineer (B.S.) by trade and an accomplished writer with a passion for inspiring everyone with new and exciting technologies. He is also a published children&rsquo;s book author and the producer for the YouTube channel Concerning Reality.</p>

POPULAR ARTICLES

Rare 30,000-year-old skeletons reveal puberty patterns from paleolithic times, human-bone-inspired cement is 5 times tougher, damage-resistant than concrete, us workers are using generative ai for work, despite lack of training, engineers create squid-inspired magnetic screen for encrypted displays , related articles.

Pagers turned bombs: High-tech attack rocks Hezbollah networks across Lebanon, Syria

New research debunks loneliness as primary cause for many ‘non-mental’ diseases

• transportation

Hyperloop’s second wind: How engineers worldwide are resurrecting Musk’s dream

US Navy to fast-track rocket production with cheaper 3D-printed solid motors

Bouncing Physics: The Science Behind Ball Rebounds

Ever wondered why a ball bounces back after hitting a surface? The answer lies in the fascinating world of bouncing physics. Bouncing is the ability of an object to regain its original shape or position after being deformed by an external force. It is a natural phenomenon that can be observed in various objects, but its principles are particularly significant when it comes to understanding the behavior of balls.

When a ball strikes a surface, it undergoes a process called deformation, where it loses its original shape due to the impact. This deformation occurs because the ball’s surface compresses upon hitting the surface. But what happens next is even more intriguing. The ball undergoes elastic potential energy, causing it to rebound and regain its shape. This remarkable rebounding capability is what makes balls so versatile in sports, games, and everyday activities.

Now, let’s delve deeper into the key takeaways of bouncing physics. In the upcoming sections of this article, we will explore the factors that influence the rebounding behavior of balls, such as the elasticity of the ball and the surface it interacts with, as well as the angle and force of impact. Additionally, we will discuss how these principles are applied in different sports and industries, uncovering the secrets behind achieving optimal bounce and maximizing performance. So, let’s bounce into the intriguing world of bouncing physics and uncover the science behind ball rebounds.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

1. The science of ball rebounds is governed by the fundamental laws of physics, specifically the conservation of momentum and energy.

2. The coefficient of restitution (COR) plays a crucial role in determining how much energy is transferred during a collision between a ball and a surface.

3. The COR value is influenced by various factors such as the material properties of the ball and the surface it bounces off, as well as the angle of impact.

4. Different sports balls have different COR values due to variations in their design and construction materials, affecting their bounce characteristics.

5. Understanding the principles behind ball rebounds allows engineers and designers to optimize ball performance, ensuring consistency and predictability in various sports.

1. SEO optimized article title question: “What Factors Determine the Science Behind Ball Rebounds?”

How do Bouncing Balls Work?

Bouncing physics refers to the scientific explanation behind the rebounding properties of balls. Understanding how balls bounce is essential for engineers, physicists, and sports enthusiasts alike. It involves various factors such as the material composition of the ball, impact force, elasticity, and friction.

Material Composition and its Impact

The material composition of a ball significantly affects its bouncing behavior. Rubber balls, for example, are known for their excellent elasticity, which allows them to bounce higher. On the other hand, balls made of harder substances like wood or metal have lower elasticity, resulting in less impressive rebounds.

Elasticity and Energy Transfer

Elasticity plays a crucial role in ball rebounds. When a ball hits a surface, it compresses due to the force of impact. This compression stores potential energy in the ball’s material, which is then released as kinetic energy during the rebound. The greater the elasticity of the ball, the more efficiently it can transfer energy, leading to higher rebounds.

Impacts of Surface and Friction

The surface upon which a ball bounces affects its rebound characteristics. A smooth surface with minimal friction allows for a more efficient energy transfer , resulting in increased bounce. However, rough surfaces with higher friction will absorb more energy, causing the ball to rebound with less force. This is why basketball courts and tennis courts have different ball rebound characteristics.

Effects of Gravity and Height

Gravity is an external force that influences ball rebounds. When a ball is dropped from a certain height, it gains potential energy due to gravity. As the ball hits the ground or any other surface, the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, causing it to rebound upwards. The higher the initial drop or release height, the greater the rebound height.

The Role of Air Pressure

Air pressure also plays a role in ball rebounds, particularly for inflated balls like basketballs or soccer balls. The pressure inside the ball affects its elasticity and, consequently, the height of the rebound. Higher air pressure results in a stiffer ball, leading to greater rebounds. Adjusting the air pressure allows players to fine-tune the ball’s bouncing behavior based on their preferences and playing conditions.

Environmental Factors

The environment in which ball rebounds occur can influence their outcomes. Temperature, for instance, affects the elasticity of balls as different materials respond differently to temperature changes. Additionally, air resistance , altitude, and humidity can alter a ball’s trajectory and rebound height.

Application in Sports and Engineering

Understanding the science of ball rebounds has practical applications in various fields. In sports such as basketball, tennis, or volleyball, knowledge of bouncing physics can help athletes improve their skills and strategize effectively. In engineering, it assists manufacturers and designers in creating balls with optimized bouncing properties for specific purposes like sports, industrial machinery, or even toy manufacturing.

Can You Improve Ball Rebounds?

Yes! Try these tips:

• Choose the right ball material for the desired bounce.
• Ensure the ball is properly inflated or adjusted to the desired air pressure.
• Opt for smooth surfaces with minimal friction for higher rebounds.
• Consider the impact of temperature and environmental factors on the ball’s elasticity.
• Practice techniques that aim to enhance the energy transfer during impacts, such as striking the ball at optimal angles.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what is bouncing physics.

Bouncing physics is the scientific study of the behavior of objects, such as balls, when they come into contact with a surface and rebound.

2. How does bouncing work?

Bouncing occurs when a ball collides with a surface and compresses. The compression results in an opposing force that pushes the ball back upward, causing it to rebound.

3. What factors affect the height of a ball’s rebound?

The height of a ball’s rebound is influenced by several factors, including the material of the ball and the surface it bounces off, the angle at which it strikes the surface, and the velocity at which it is moving.

4. Can the elasticity of the ball affect its rebound?

Absolutely! The elasticity of the ball plays a crucial role in determining the height of its rebound. A more elastic ball will compress and decompress more efficiently, resulting in a higher rebound.

5. How does the surface type affect ball rebounds?

The type of surface the ball bounces off can greatly impact its rebound. Softer surfaces, such as grass or foam, tend to absorb more of the ball’s energy, resulting in a lower rebound. Harder surfaces, like concrete or wood, transfer more of the energy back to the ball, leading to a higher rebound.

6. Is the weight of the ball a significant factor in its rebound?

Yes, the weight of the ball does influence its rebound. Heavier balls tend to have a lower rebound compared to lighter balls due to their increased mass and the force required to compress them.

7. Does air pressure affect ball rebounds?

Air pressure certainly has an impact on ball rebounds. Higher air pressure inside a ball can increase its elasticity, resulting in a higher rebound. Conversely, lower air pressure can reduce the ball’s elasticity and lead to a lower rebound.

8. Can temperature affect ball rebounds?

Temperature can affect ball rebounds, particularly for inflatable balls. Cold temperatures can reduce the elasticity of the ball, leading to a lower rebound, while warmer temperatures increase elasticity and result in a higher rebound.

9. Are there any safety concerns related to ball rebounds?

While ball rebounds themselves are not typically considered a safety concern, it is important to consider factors like surface hardness and protective gear, especially in sports where high-speed ball rebounds are common. Taking precautions and using appropriate equipment can help prevent injuries.

10. How is bouncing physics applied in real life?

Bouncing physics finds practical applications in various fields. It is crucial in designing sports equipment to optimize performance and safety, understanding the behavior of objects in engineering and design, and even in researching the properties of materials.

Final Thoughts

Understanding the science behind ball rebounds can give us deeper insights into the mechanics of everyday objects. Bouncing physics reveals the complex interplay between forces, materials, and surfaces, ultimately determining the height and behavior of a ball’s rebound. Whether it’s in sports, construction, or scientific research, this knowledge serves as a foundation for innovation and problem-solving.

So, next time you watch a ball bouncing, take a moment to appreciate the fascinating physics behind it. From the elasticity of the ball to the interaction with different surfaces, ball rebounds showcase the principles that govern our physical world. It’s truly remarkable how a seemingly simple action can be so rich in scientific concepts!

Related Posts

Explained: A Bat And A Ball Cost $1.10

A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. This means that the individual cost of…

Research on Ball Weights: Advancing the Game

In the world of sports, continuous research and innovation play a vital role in advancing…

What Is A Pool Ball Made Of

A pool ball is a round object used in the game of pool. It is…

• Free Resources
• Project Search
• Featured Projects
• Member Benefits

1059 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ 07011

The most valuable resources for teachers and students

(973) 777 - 3113

[email protected]

1059 Main Avenue

Clifton, NJ 07011

07:30 - 19:00

Monday to Friday

123 456 789

[email protected]

Goldsmith Hall

New York, NY 90210

• Why We’re Unique

What factors affect the bounce of a dropped ball?

Introduction: (initial observation).

When dropped on a solid surface, not even a super ball bounces back as high as its initial height, but some balls do bounce a lot better than others. Even a specific ball may bounce different heights at different times or different locations. Such variations in the bounce of a dropped ball rise questions that demand some research and investigation.

In this project we will try to find out what factors affect the bounce of a dropped ball.

This project guide contains information that you need in order to start your project. If you have any questions or need more support about this project, click on the “ Ask Question ” button on the top of this page to send me a message.

If you are new in doing science project, click on “ How to Start ” in the main page. There you will find helpful links that describe different types of science projects, scientific method, variables, hypothesis, graph, abstract and all other general basics that you need to know.  

Project advisor

Information Gathering:

Find out about the physics of a dropped ball. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to find out the factors that affect the movements of a dropped ball. Keep track of where you got your information from. Following are some sample information that you may find:

Background Information

Everyone has played with balls that bounce, but few people truly understand the physics behind a bouncing ball. When you hold a ball above a surface, the ball has potential energy. Potential energy is the energy of position, and it depends on the mass of the ball and its height above the surface. The formula for gravitational potential energy is PE = mgh where m is the mass of the ball measured in kg, g is the gravitational acceleration constant of 9.8 m/se c2 , and h is the height of the ball in m. As the ball falls through the air, the potential energy changes to kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is energy of motion. The formula for kinetic energy is KE=1/2 mv 2 , where m is the mass in kg and v is the velocity in m/sec 2 . Both potential and kinetic energy have units of Joules (J).

As the ball falls through the air, the Law of Conservation of Energy is in effect and states that energy is neither gained nor lost, only transferred from one form to another. The total energy of the system remains the same; the potential energy changes to kinetic energy, but no energy is lost. When the ball collides with the floor, the ball becomes deformed. If the ball is elastic in nature, the ball will quickly return to its original form and spring up from the floor. This is Newton’s Third Law of Motion- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The ball pushes on the floor and the floor pushes back on the ball, causing it to rebound.

On a molecular level, the rubber is made from long chains of polymers. These polymers are tangled together and stretch upon impact. However, they only stretch for an instant before atomic interaction forces them back into their original, tangled shape and the ball shoots upward.

Source…

Information Part 1:

Why if you drop a ball from say 2 meters does it bounce higher than a ball dropped from 1 meter?

If you follow the motion of either ball, you’ll realize that there’s a moment halfway through its bounce when the ball is perfectly motionless in contact with the floor. At that instant, how does the ball “know” how high it should bounce? Something about its situation then must determine its rebound, but what?

The answer lies in how far the ball has dented inward due to its collision with the floor. As it falls, the ball converts energy stored in the force of gravity—gravitational potential energy—into energy of motion—kinetic energy. By the time it reaches the floor, the ball is traveling quickly and it hits the floor hard. It pushes downward on the floor and the floor pushes upward on it. Because of these forces, both the ball and floor deform inward. This denting extracts energy from the ball’s motion and stores much of it in the elastic surfaces of the floor and ball. Because the ball is softer than the floor, it does most of the denting and stores most of the energy. By the time the ball comes briefly to a stop, most of its missing energy has been stored in its dented surface.

The ball then rebounds: it undents and tosses itself up into the air to a good fraction of its original height. That height fraction is equal to the fraction of energy that the ball successfully stored and returned during its bounce. Thus a typical ball bounces to 60% of its original height because it stores and returns 60% of the energy it had before the bounce. Conveniently enough, this fraction of returned energy is nearly independent of how much energy the ball had to begin with. It depends only on the elasticity of the ball itself—a super ball returns a large fraction while a beanbag returns a tiny fraction.

When you drop a ball from a greater height, it has more kinetic energy just before it hits the floor and stores more energy during the bounce—it dents farther as it comes to a stop. When the ball rebounds, its stored energy reappears and it leaps higher into the air than it would have had you dropped it a shorter distance.

Schematic diagram of two balls dropped from different heights. The balls are shown at rest, about to bounce back up.

Information Part 2:

How well a ball bounces deals with its coefficient of restitution . This coefficient of restitution, e, is actually the ratio of the velocity of recession (upwards after the bounce) to the velocity of approach (downward before the bounce). For a perfectly elastic bounce (the ultimate super ball), e =1; and for an inelastic bounce (like clay dropping on the floor), e =0. So an imperfect ball loses some energy on each bounce.

Information Part 3:

Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy means energy associated with motion. It is the most basic kind of energy.

It is defined as KE = ½mv2

where m is the mass of the moving object, and v is the velocity of the moving object.

We can go back to our table of velocities, square each one, then multiply by 1/ 2 * 0.044 kg to find the kinetic energy at each moment.

Gravitational potential energy

Gravitational potential energy means energy that an object has based on where it is located in a gravitational field.

It is defined as GPE = mgh

where g is the gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/ sec 2 at the Earth’s surface), and where h is the height of the object, measured with respect to any convenient “zero- level”.

Total mechanical energy

For a dropped ball, the total mechanical energy is defined as the sum of its kinetic energy and its gravitational potential energy. So once you know how to calculate KE and GPE, it is simple to calculate their sum, E.

E= ½mv2+mgh

Mechanical energy is conserved

KE of a dropped ball changes as it falls. GPE also changes as the ball falls.

The sum of the two, mechanical energy, stays the same (” is conserved”.)

As the ball is falling toward the ground it’s Kinetic Energy is increasing because it’s speed is increasing. Also it’s Gravitational Potential energy is decreasing because it’s height is decreasing.

Information Part 4:

Balls: Terminal Speed and Coefficient of Restitution.

Last updated on March 17, 1999

CoR = coefficient of restitution = (speed after collision)/(speed before collision)

The CoRs apply to balls dropped or thrown at a rigid wooden surface. Adapted from Plangenhoef, Patterns of Human Motion.

The CoR can be measured directly by velocity measurements but often it is handier to measure the height of rise of the ball after it bounces relative to the height that it fell. Since v2 = 2gh, the CoR = v’/v = sqrt(h’/h) where h’ is the height of the bounce and h is the height from which the ball is dropped. For example a regulation tennis ball is dropped from about 1 meter. The relative height of the bounce should be h’/h = CoR2 = 0.72 = 0.49. The selection of balls for official games in most sports (esp. tennis and baseball) includes the CoR test.

The terminal speed is the maximum speed reached when an object is dropped from a great height. A thrown or batted ball may travel faster than the terminal speed, but it will experience a large drag force from the air which is greater than it’s weight. At the terminal speed, the drag force = the gravitational force. With no net force, the acceleration = 0 and the ball falls at a constant velocity.

http://wings.avkids.com/Curriculums/Tennis/index.html

Question/ Purpose:

The purpose of this project is to find out what factors affect the bounce of a dropped ball.

Identify Variables:

When you think you know what variables may be involved, think about ways to change one at a time. If you change more than one at a time, you will not know what variable is causing your observation. Sometimes variables are linked and work together to cause something. At first, try to choose variables that you think act independently of each other.

Variables that may affect the bounce of a dropped ball are:

• The height from which we drop the ball
• The air pressure inside the ball
• Hardness of the bounce surface

You may study the effect of any of these variables on the bounce of a dropped ball.

If you choose to study on the effect of air pressure inside the ball, your variables will be defined like this:

Independent variable (also known as manipulated variable) is the ball’s air pressure.

Dependent variable is the height that the ball bounces.

Constants are the release height, the bouncing surface, the type and the size of the ball.

Controlled variables are air temperature, air flow, air pressure where you perform your tests.

Hypothesis:

Based on your gathered information, make an educated guess about what types of things affect the system you are working with. Identifying variables is necessary before you can make a hypothesis.

This is a sample hypothesis:

The bounce of a dropped ball has a direct relation with the air pressure inside the ball. So if we double the air pressure, we will get double bounce height.

If you choose to study on any other variable, following are samples of hypothesis.

• The bounce of a dropped ball has a direct relation with the release height. So if we double the release height, we will get double bounce height.
• An elastic surface such as rubber and a very hard surface such as concrete will result the highest bounce level. As elasticity and hardness decreases, part of the ball energy will be used to permanently dent or misplace or vibrate the surface, so ball will have less energy to bounce.

It is always good to have an explanation for choosing any hypothesis. For example this is a sample explanation.

My hypothesis is based on my observation of balls that are not well inflated. These balls do not bounce as well as balls with high air pressure.

Experiment Design:

Design an experiment to test each hypothesis. Make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer each question. This list is called an experimental procedure. For an experiment to give answers you can trust, it must have a “control.” A control is an additional experimental trial or run. It is a separate experiment, done exactly like the others. The only difference is that no experimental variables are changed. A control is a neutral “reference point” for comparison that allows you to see what changing a variable does by comparing it to not changing anything. Dependable controls are sometimes very hard to develop. They can be the hardest part of a project. Without a control you cannot be sure that changing the variable causes your observations. A series of experiments that includes a control is called a “controlled experiment.”

Each of the following experiments tests a different hypothesis. Experiment 2 is for testing the effect of air pressure.

Experiment 1:

In this experiment you will measure the bounce of a dropped ball for different release heights. Perform this test in a Gym or anywhere else where you have a hard surface and an accessible wall. In this experiment the only variable that we modify is the release height and we keep all other variables unchanged.

Preparation: Draw a ruler with high visibility on a roll of paper about 8 inches wide and 6 feet tall. Tape the ruler to the wall. You will need an assistant, so one person will drop the ball and the other person stands about 20 feet away and records how high it bounces. You can drop the ball from your hand or you can make a stopper for the ball to hold it only from the sides with a little pressure.

Hold the ball at 6 feet height and release it. Your assistant will record the bounce. For each height repeat the test 3 to 5 times and record the most reliable result. If you get more than one value, calculate and record the average.

Repeat your tests 9 more times and each time lower the release height for 6 inches. Record the results in a table like this:

Divide the bounce height of each row by the release height of the same row and write the result in the last column. “Bounce/Release” is the relation of bounce height to the release height.

Experiment 3:

In this experiment you will test the bounce of a dropped ball for different surface hardness. Perform this test in a Gym or anywhere else where you have a hard surface and an accessible wall. In this experiment the only variable that we modify is the type or flexibility of bounce surface and we keep all other variables unchanged.

Hold the ball at 6 feet height and release it on a hard concrete surface. Your assistant will record the bounce. Then change the surface material by covering it with different material and repeat the test. Material that you may test are:

Carpet, Rubber matte, ply wood, sponge, Styrofoam, another ball, …

Repeat your tests for each different type of bouncing surface and record the results in a table like this:

Materials and Equipment:

• Several balls, medium-sized super balls, hollow rubber balls, solid rubber balls, tennis balls, golf balls, baseballs, and whatever other types of balls are available. For testing air pressure you will need one ball that is inflatable such as a basketball ball.
• Several meter sticks for measuring the height of the bouncing ball or drawing a larger meter stick.
• Several smooth hard flat horizontal surfaces suitable for bouncing balls—floors, lab tables, sidewalks, and the like.
• Additional list of material can be extracted from the experiment section.

Results of Experiment (Observation):

Experiments are often done in series. A series of experiments can be done by changing one variable a different amount each time. A series of experiments is made up of separate experimental “runs.” During each run you make a measurement of how much the variable affected the system under study. For each run, a different amount of change in the variable is used. This produces a different amount of response in the system. You measure this response, or record data, in a table for this purpose. This is considered “raw data” since it has not been processed or interpreted yet. When raw data gets processed mathematically, for example, it becomes results.

Calculations:

You may need to calculate the average of bounce height. It is also good to calculate the coefficient of restitution of your ball using the formula CoR = v’/v = sqrt(h’/h).

Summary of Results:

Summarize what happened. This can be in the form of a table of processed numerical data, or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during experiments.

It is from calculations using recorded data that tables and graphs are made. Studying tables and graphs, we can see trends that tell us how different variables cause our observations. Based on these trends, we can draw conclusions about the system under study. These conclusions help us confirm or deny our original hypothesis. Often, mathematical equations can be made from graphs. These equations allow us to predict how a change will affect the system without the need to do additional experiments. Advanced levels of experimental science rely heavily on graphical and mathematical analysis of data. At this level, science becomes even more interesting and powerful.8

Conclusion:

Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did.

Related Questions & Answers:

What you have learned may allow you to answer other questions. Many questions are related. Several new questions may have occurred to you while doing experiments. You may now be able to understand or verify things that you discovered when gathering information for the project. Questions lead to more questions, which lead to additional hypothesis that need to be tested.

1. Does a ball bounce higher or lower in moon (Less Gravity), while all other conditions are constant?

Possible Errors:

If you did not observe anything different than what happened with your control, the variable you changed may not affect the system you are investigating. If you did not observe a consistent, reproducible trend in your series of experimental runs there may be experimental errors affecting your results. The first thing to check is how you are making your measurements. Is the measurement method questionable or unreliable? Maybe you are reading a scale incorrectly, or maybe the measuring instrument is working erratically.

If you determine that experimental errors are influencing your results, carefully rethink the design of your experiments. Review each step of the procedure to find sources of potential errors. If possible, have a scientist review the procedure with you. Sometimes the designer of an experiment can miss the obvious.

References:

Try to find more information from physics or mechanics books. Find sections related to potential energy, elasticity and springs. Your bibliography must contain sources that are available to you (at your school or local library). Specially look for parts that discuss the gas pressure and physical properties of gases.

The format you use to write your bibliography may look like this:

• An Introduction To Mechanics by Daniel Kleppner and Robert Kolenkow Hardcover – Mar 1, 1973
• Course of Theoretical Physics : Mechanics (Course of Theoretical Physics) by E M Lifshitz and L D Landau
• Engineering Mechanics – Dynamics (11th Edition) by Russell C. Hibbeler Jul 7, 2006

Related Attachments:

Are you ready for more advanced ball drop projects?

The following is a college level project, but some grade 9 to 12 students can also complete this with no problem.

Experiment:

In this experiment you will drop a ball on a hard surface such as table and record the sounds it makes when it bounces using a computer and any sound recorder program. You will be able to precisely measure the time intervals between bounces. You will then take your bounces and their respective time intervals to a spread sheet. Your challenge will be to find a way to determine your ball’s ‘ e’, and the initial height of the ball when you first dropped it.

Data Collection Instructions:

Use a racquetball, a golf ball or any kind that bounces well and makes a nice crisp sound when it bounces. It’s a good idea to bounce it on a level surface, and don’t release from too great a height, or while bouncing, the ball will wander away from the sound recorder range. About a foot above the table top is plenty.

If you are using windows sound recorder program, you can view the recorded waves with an accuracy of 0.01 second. To do that use the scroll button to start, then use arrow keys to move your wave 0.1 second left or right. or hold Ctrl and then use arrow keys to move the wave 0.01 second left or right. Locate the peaks and record the time for each peak.

The spikes are bounces.

Collecting Time Data:

You will next need to record your bounces and their respective times.

You are now ready to enter your data on a spread sheet and get to work. Specifically, you are tasked to determine:

A.) ” e” for your ball.

B.) the initial height of your ball when you released it.

Lab Report:

1. Discuss specifically how you developed your ” e” and initial height values.

2. Do you think ” e” is constant for your ball? Why or why not?

3. What is happening to the ball’s energy with each bounce?

It will be important to keep track of what times go between what bounces.

Here’s another sample run:

Here’s an example of an Excel spread sheet that analyzes what’s going on:

Here’s a graph of energy vs. bounce from the spread sheet:

This is a sample on how to write the results, conclusion and make charts.

How high a tennis ball will bounce.

Experimental Design:

Purpose: To determine how high a tennis ball will bounce when dropped from a specific height.

Hypothesis: If a tennis ball is dropped from a specific height then the ball will bounce to the same height.

Materials: meter stick, tennis ball

Independent Variable: The height from which the ball is dropped.

Dependent Variable: The height of the bounce.

Constants: the same person takes all of the measurements, the same materials are used in every trial

Procedure: One group member drops a tennis ball from a specific height, while the other group member notes how high the ball bounces. This is repeated three times at 5 different heights. The three trials at each height are then averaged, and the average bounce height is graphed versus the drop height.

Data Collection:

Data Table 1: Group Data

Data Analysis:

Data Table 2: Average Bounce Height at Each Height:

Graph 1: Height of Ball drop versus Height of ball bounce:

Sample Calculations: m = Dy / Dx

m = (40-30) / (80-60) = 10 / 20 = ½ = .5

Results & Conclusions:

Our data indicates that the hypothesis was incorrect. Data table 2 indicates that on average tennis ball bounced to a lower height than it was dropped from. The reason for our error was that we thought that the tennis ball might be specially made to bounce to the same height. The results of our experiment show that this probably is not the case. However, the tennis ball we used may be a very old one, and to definitely prove that our hypothesis is wrong for most tennis balls we would need to repeat the experiment with many different tennis balls.

The purpose of our lab was fulfilled. Our lab group was able to determine the relationship between drop height and bounce height. Additionally we were able to practice reading a lab, taking data and making a graph.

Possible sources of error include several types of measurement errors. It was difficult to accurately measure the height of the bounce. We also noted after we finished the experiment that the student taking measurements sometimes stood above the height when taking the measurement and sometimes kneeled on the floor so they had a different angle on the meter stick, which may have affected the measurement.

This experiment might have been improved if we had developed a method for more accurately measuring the tennis ball’s bounce height. For example, we could have used a ruler on the top to help us read how high up the tennis ball bounced, and we could have made sure the partner taking measurements did so from a consistent height.

Summary of Lab Questions:

The slope of the line in graph 1 was found to be 0.5. This calculation is shown in the data analysis section above. This slope tells us how “bouncy” the ball is. It tells us that the ball consistently bounced to half of its drop height.

Using the slope and graph, we can estimate that the ball would bounce to 0.75 m if dropped from 1.5 m and bounce to 1 m if dropped from 2 m.

It is difficult to say with certainty that a ball dropped from 100 m would bounce to 50 m. That is because the heights we dropped the tennis ball from were all under 1 m, and at a much greater distance there may be other factors that would contribute to the bounce height. For instance, air resistance would slow down the tennis ball much more when it is dropped from 100 m than when dropped from 1 m. This difference in impact speed would probably affect the bounce height. Another experiment would be necessary to determine this for certain.

It is always important for students, parents and teachers to know a good source for science related equipment and supplies they need for their science activities. Please note that many online stores for science supplies are managed by MiniScience.

Testimonials

" I called School Time and my husband and son came with me for the tour. We felt the magic immediately."

- Robby Robinson

" My husband and son came with me for the tour. We felt the magic immediately."

- Zoe Ranson

Contact Info

Our address, working hours.

Week Days: 07:00-19:00

Saturday: 09:00-15:00

Sunday: Closed

Science Project

Teacher Resource Center

Pasco partnerships.

2024 Catalogs & Brochures

Investigating a bouncing ball.

Students investigate the characteristics of a bouncing ball by measuring the force applied to it from a force platform. They use the force vs time to find the impulse and the hang time between bounces to find the speed and height of a bounce. They find the coefficient of restitution and predict heights of future bounces.

Grade Level: High School

Subject: Physics

Student Files

Teacher Files

Sign In to your PASCO account to access teacher files and sample data.

Watch Video

Wireless Force Platforms | Get Started

Learn how to set up and use PASCO's Wireless Force Platform (PS-3229) and Wireless 2-Axis Force Platform. For more information on the Wireless Force Platforms,...

Compare the forces on a bouncing ball and equal mass of clay using a PASCO Wireless Force Platform. Then investigate multiple successive bounces of the ball...

Featured Equipment

Wireless 2-Axis Force Platform

The Wireless 2-Axis Force Platform measures forces applied normal to its surface, as well as forces applied parallel to its surface.

Wireless Force Platform

The Wireless Force Platform measures forces applied normal to the surface of the platform. Supports a maximum normal force of 5,200 N.

Many lab activities can be conducted with our Wireless , PASPORT , or even ScienceWorkshop sensors and equipment. For assistance with substituting compatible instruments, contact PASCO Technical Support . We're here to help. Copyright © 2021 PASCO

More Experiments

Advanced Placement

• Conservation Of Momentum
• Series Parallel Circuits
• NPN Transistor
• Blackbody Radiation

High School

• Investigating a Vertical Jump

Choose an Account to Log In

Notifications

Science project, bouncing ball physics: what is elasticity.

What makes a ball bouncy? Have you ever wondered why some balls bounce higher than others? A ball’s ability to bounce has a lot to do with its elasticity . So what is elasticity? It’s an object’s ability to return to its original shape after being stretched or squeezed. Objects that are more stretchy are usually more elastic, too. Do you have pajama pants with elastic material in the top? You can stretch to get into them, but they will shrink back to fit your waist!

In this science fair project, we’ll investigate bouncing ball physics to determine which ball has the highest elasticity and find out how elasticity contributes to bounce height.

Which of the following balls has the highest elasticity: a rubber ball, a marble, or a ping pong ball?

• Wooden board (a cutting board or a piece of scrap plywood will work great)
• Yardstick, meter stick or tape measure with centimeters
• Rubber bouncy ball
• Ping pong ball
• Table or wall
• Set the wooden board flat on the ground next to a wall or table.
• Tape the meter stick to the wall or table as shown. Make sure that the meter stick starts with 0 is at the bottom. Before conducting this experiment, use this time to formulate your hypothesis. Which ball do you think will bounce the highest? Why?

• Have a partner drop the rubber ball from the 25 centimeter mark and record the height of the first bounce in a table like the one below. Repeat 5 times and record bounce height for each of your 5 trials. It’s important to drop the ball and not throw it downward. Why do you think this is?

• Average the recorded bounce heights from each trial together to find the average bounce height for the rubber ball. Here’s how to calculate an average:
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the marble.
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the ping pong ball
• Have a partner drop the rubber ball 5 times from the 50 centimeter mark and record the height in a table.
• Average the recorded bounce heights from each 50 cm trial together to find the average bounce height for the rubber ball.
• Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the marble.
• Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the ping pong ball.
• Have a partner drop the rubber ball 5 times from the 75 centimeter mark and record the height in a table.
• Average the recorded bounce heights from each 75 cm trial together to find the average bounce height for the rubber ball. How do you think the height at which the ball was dropped affects how high it bounces? Why? You should see a pattern emerging!
• Repeat steps 11 and 12 for the marble.
• Repeat steps 11 and 12 for the ping pong ball.

On average, the rubber bouncy ball will bounce the highest, followed by the ping pong ball. The marble will bounce the least high.

Explanation:

When all three balls are dropped from the same height, the rubber ball will bounce the highest because it has the greatest elasticity. When the rubber ball hits the ground it gets compressed , or squished, and because it is very elastic, it quickly returns to its original shape. When it does this, it pushes back on the ground shoots back up into the air.

The marble, which is the hardest out of the three balls, has the least elasticity, so it does not bounce as high. It doesn’t get squished when it lands, so it has a harder time changing its direction from down to up. The balls dropped from 75 centimeters will bounce higher than those dropped from 50 centimeters, and the balls in the 50 centimeter trials will bounce higher than those in the 25 centimeter trials. This is because the higher the starting height of the ball, the higher the ball’s potential energy . An object has potential energy because of its position. If an object is going to be dropped from high up in the air, it has lots of potential energy because the earth’s gravity has plenty of time to accelerate, or speed up, the ball when you let go of it—and the longer an object falls, the faster it gets. So what happens to potential energy when a ball is dropped? It turns into kinetic energy , or the energy an object has when it is moving. The faster an object moves, the higher its kinetic energy. Which object do you think has a higher kinetic energy: a car or an airplane?

Because gravity has the most time to do its job when the balls are dropped from 75 centimeters, these balls have the most kinetic energy by the time they hit the ground. When the ball hits the ground, all that kinetic energy has to go somewhere. A lot of it goes back into the ball, giving it more force to pop back up into the air—so the higher the potential energy, the higher the kinetic energy, and the higher the kinetic energy, the higher the bounce!

Further investigation:

To explore gravity and gravitational forces, get a stopwatch and time each ball from the time it is dropped until it hits the ground. Which ball hits first? Does weight matter? Does elasticity matter?

Result: All balls should take the same amount of time to reach the ground when dropped from the same height. Weight and elasticity do not matter.

Related learning resources

Add to collection, create new collection, new collection, new collection>, sign up to start collecting.

Bookmark this to easily find it later. Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan.

FREE K-12 standards-aligned STEM

curriculum for educators everywhere!

Find more at TeachEngineering.org .

• TeachEngineering
• Collisions and Momentum: Bouncing Balls

Lesson Collisions and Momentum: Bouncing Balls

Grade Level: 8 (7-9)

Time Required: 45 minutes

Lesson Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Physical Science, Physics

NGSS Performance Expectations:

• Print lesson and its associated curriculum

Curriculum in this Unit Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Nested under units are lessons (in purple) and hands-on activities (in blue). Note that not all lessons and activities will exist under a unit, and instead may exist as "standalone" curriculum.

• Swinging Pendulum
• Swinging Pendulum (for High School)
• Bouncing Balls: Collisions, Momentum & Math in Sports
• Bouncing Balls: Collisions, Momentum & Math (for High School)
• Energy in Collisions: Rolling Ramp and Review
• Energy in Collisions: Rolling Ramp and Review (for High School)

TE Newsletter

Engineering connection, learning objectives, more curriculum like this, introduction/motivation, associated activities, lesson closure, vocabulary/definitions, user comments & tips.

Crunch! That is the sound that you hear when two cars crash into each other. This unnerving sound can be a good thing if it is the sound of a wonderful safety innovation developed by engineers, called the crumple zone. Mechanical engineers consider momentum and collisions when designing vehicles. A crumple zone is designed into motor vehicles to absorb the main impact of the energy being transferred during a crash, so the people inside don't get hurt. Airbags are another engineering safety improvement to protect passengers from the impact of collisions.

After this lesson, students should be able to:

• Calculate the momentum of a moving object.
• Recognize that momentum is proportional to mass and velocity.
• Explain that in a closed system, momentum is conserved in both elastic and inelastic collisions.
• Describe how collisions and momentum play an important role in the design of safe automobiles.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science.

Common Core State Standards - Math

View aligned curriculum

Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State standards, colorado - math, colorado - science.

The concept of momentum is often used in sports. An announcer might say, "The Denver Nuggets really have some momentum going into the fourth quarter!" or a newspaper headline might read, "The Colorado Avalanche pick up momentum!" What this means is that the team is sticking together and moving ahead as a whole rather than playing as individuals and not getting anywhere. In the engineering and physics world, momentum refers to the quality of motion that an object has, and it depends on the mass and velocity of the object:

Momentum = mass x velocity

So, if the Colorado Avalanche were all skating together in a close group at a fast speed, they would have a lot of momentum, physically.

Show the class a ping-pong ball and a golf ball. Although they are about the same size, the golf ball is heavier. Explain that if you threw each ball the same speed, the golf ball would have greater momentum. This becomes painfully obvious with an example. Ask the students if they have ever played "dodge ball" or a similar game. Ask the students if they would rather play with the ping-pong ball or the golf ball. As students groan at the thought of getting hit with a golf ball, explain that the reason it would hurt more is because it would have substantially more momentum than a ping-pong ball. In this case, more momentum is due to the greater mass (weight) of the golf ball, and the momentum of the golf ball would translate into a big bruise on your leg!

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers

A brief review of the concepts of potential and kinetic energy (covered in detail in the previous lesson) and momentum, is provided below:

Potential energy is the energy that an object has because of its position. Potential energy can also be thought of as stored energy — energy that an object has, as an inherent characteristic, but is not in use. It is sometimes called gravitational potential energy (PE). It can be expressed mathematically as follows:

PE = mass x g x height

where PE is the potential energy measured in Joules (J) and g is the acceleration due to gravity. At sea level g = 9.81 meters/sec 2 . An example of potential energy is a book resting on the edge of a table. If you were to nudge it off the edge of the table the book would fall to the floor and make a loud noise. This is an expression of kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy an object has because of its motion ; any object that is moving has kinetic energy. The falling book in this example is an illustration of kinetic energy. The kinetic energy depends on both mass and velocity and can be expressed mathematically as follows:

Momentum can be thought of as "mass in motion" and is given by the expression:

The amount of momentum an object has depends both on its mass and how fast it is going . For example, a heavier object going the same speed as a lighter object would have greater momentum. Sometimes, when objects collide into each other, momentum can be transferred from one object to another. There are two types of collisions that relate to momentum: elastic and inelastic. In a closed system, which means that there are no external forces acting on the objects that collide, both types of collisions follow the Law of Conservation of Momentum, which states "the total amount of momentum before a collision is equal to the total amount of momentum after a collision."

In an inelastic collision , momentum is conserved, but the total kinetic energy of the system is not conserved. When the collision occurs, some kinetic energy is transferred to another kind of energy such as heat or internal energy. A dropped ball of clay demonstrates an extremely inelastic collision. It does not bounce at all and loses its kinetic energy. Instead, all the energy goes into deforming the ball into a flat blob.

In the real world, there are no purely elastic or inelastic collisions. Even though rubber balls, pool balls (when hitting each other), and ping-pong balls may be assumed extremely elastic, there is still some bit of inelasticity in their collisions. If there were not, rubber balls would bounce forever. Refer to the Bouncing Balls: Collisions, Momentum & Math in Sports activity to have students investigate principle of conservation of momentum regarding elastic and inelastic collisions. For an extra challenge, refer to the Bouncing Balls: Collisions, Momentum & Math (for High School) activity. The degree to which something is elastic or inelastic is usually found experimentally.

The following demonstration shows momentum in action for an elastic collision. This demonstration is difficult to get right the first time, so practice a few times before presenting it to the class. First, bounce the ping-pong ball on the floor by dropping it from shoulder height. This works best on a tile floor. If your classroom is carpeted, bounce the balls onto a cinder block or a large brick placed on the carpet. Have a student volunteer mark on the board how high it bounced. Next, drop the golf ball from the same height and mark how high it bounced. Then, hold the golf ball and the ping-pong ball together, with the ping-pong ball directly on top of the golf ball. Drop them both and watch as the ping-pong ball bounces as high as 10 feet.

Another way to look to understand collisions is through Newton's 3rd Law, which tells us that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". When the golf ball hits the floor, the force exerted on the floor by the golf ball is equal and opposite to the force exerted on the golf ball by the floor. This causes the golf ball to bounce and move upwards. When the golf ball collides with the ping-pong ball, the force exerted on the ping-pong ball by the golf ball is equal and opposite to the force exerted on the golf ball by the ping-pong ball. As we know, the golf ball (due to its larger weight) has more momentum than the ping-pong ball, so it transfers momentum to the ping-pong ball, and so the ping-pong ball goes higher in this scenario than if it was dropped alone (no collision). Remember, based on the Law of Conservation of Momentum, after the collision between the golf ball and the ping-pong ball, the total momentum of the system is conserved. This means that if you added the momentum of the two balls before the collision and added the momentum of the two balls after the collision, the total would be the same.

Engineers consider momentum when designing vehicles for safety. In a head-on collision, the front end of a car is designed to crumple, making the collision inelastic. It takes energy to crumple the front of the car and this is what absorbs some of the impact. This makes the crash less severe for anyone that is in the car. Instead of absorbing the full force of the crash, the passengers are cushioned by the inelastic collision. (Note: This "cushion" is not as comfortable as a pillow, but it will save lives during accidents.)

Engineers also consider momentum when designing brakes for vehicles. Heavy trucks and race cars require powerful braking systems to stop. Have you ever wondered why drag racing cars have parachutes to stop them? It is because conventional brakes are not powerful enough to stop them in a limited distance. These cars go so fast that their momentum is too great for regular brakes to be sufficient.

Watch this activity on YouTube

With the entire class, discuss why different sports use different balls. The students may have found that a golf ball has a more elastic collision than a baseball. This is because in a game, a golf ball must be hit a very long distance from the tee to the hole. On the other hand, if a baseball had a very elastic collision, almost every ball could be hit out of the park. That would not make for a very interesting game, would it? The choice of balls used in other sports can be explained with similar explanations.

Engineers address vehicular safety by studying collisions. The airbag is a recent safety addition to automobiles. If you tried to bounce an airbag do you think it would have a more elastic or inelastic collision? (Answer: Inelastic.) A similar effect can be seen in a ball of clay. Instead of bouncing, the energy is used up in deforming the clay (or airbag). A combination of characteristics makes an airbag a good safety device; using up energy to deform the bag instead of the driver's body is one of them. Other factors that help are distributing the force over a large area and time.

conservation of momentum: The amount of momentum in a system remains the same after a collision.

elastic collision: A collision in which all of the momentum is conserved. For example, a ball that bounces back up to its original height.

energy: The capacity to do work.

inelastic collision: A collision in which the kinetic energy is not conserved. For example, a ball that only bounces partially to its original height.

momentum: Mass in motion.

Pre-Lesson Assessment

Voting: Ask the students to vote on the following question.

• Which has more momentum, a rolling bowling ball or ping-pong ball, going the same speed? (Answer: Bowling ball, because it has more mass.)

Brainstorming: In small groups, have the students engage in open discussion. Remind students that no idea or suggestion is "silly." All ideas should be respectfully heard. Ask the students:

• What factors determine how much momentum an object has? (Answer: Mass and velocity. Answers such as, size and density, or if an object is dropped, are acceptable answers because they can influence both mass and velocity.)

Post-Introduction Assessment

Discussion Question: Ask the students and discuss as a class:

• How could a ping-pong ball have enough momentum to stop a moving bowling ball? (Answer: If the ping-pong ball was going really, really fast.)

Lesson Summary Assessment

One and Done: Ask the students to think of a sport that involves a collision and transfer of momentum, and raise their hands (or indicate thumbs up) when they have an example. (Possible answers: Baseball, pool, bowling, football [i.e., field goal or punt, etc.]). Call on students at random to state their answer (the sport and description of the collision). Students put their hands down once they've contributed an answer. No repeat answers permitted.

Calculations: Ask students to complete the following calculations to test their new knowledge of momentum:

• Let's calculate the momentum of the golf ball in the above example. If the golf ball has a mass of .05 kg, and a velocity of 15 m/s, then what is its momentum? (Answer: momentum= .05 kg*15 m/s= 0.75 kg m/s)
• What if we were now dropping a rock instead? With a momentum of 220 kg m/s, and a velocity of 20 m/s, what is the mass of the rock? (Answer: m=momentum/velocity=220/20= 11 kg)

Toss-a-Question: Ask students to independently think of an answer to each of the questions below and write it on a half sheet of paper. Have students wad up and toss the paper to another team member who then adds their idea. After all students have written down ideas, have them toss the paper wad to another team, who reads the answers aloud to the class. Discuss answers with the class.

• How does the elasticity and inelasticity of balls affect sports?
• Why are baseballs not made out of super-elastic rubber? (Answer: If baseballs were made of rubber and were super-elastic, everyone could hit a home run easily.)
• Why are pool balls not made of clay? (Answer: If pool balls were made of clay it would be almost impossible to move the balls across the table.)

Lesson Extension Activities

Have the students further explore the mechanics of hitting a baseball with a bat by visiting this website: https://annex.exploratorium.edu/baseball/features/how-far-can-you-hit-one.html . This website covers the concept of momentum and collisions and how it relates to baseball in an easy-to-understand and interesting account of the mechanics of baseball. Visit the Exploratorium's baseball index at https://annex.exploratorium.edu/baseball/index.html  for additional interesting science-based information on the game of baseball.

Students examine how different balls react when colliding with different surfaces, giving plenty of opportunity for them to see the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions, learn how to calculate momentum, and understand the principle of conservation of momentum.

In this activity, students examine how different balls react when colliding with different surfaces. They learn how to calculate momentum and understand the principle of conservation of momentum.

Students also investigate the psychological phenomenon of momentum; they see how the "big mo" of the bandwagon effect contributes to the development of fads and manias, and how modern technology and mass media accelerate and intensify the effect.

On the topic of energy related to motion, this summary lesson ties together the concepts introduced in the previous four lessons and show how the concepts are interconnected in everyday applications. A hands-on activity demonstrates this idea and reinforces students' math skills in calculating energ...

Baseball highlights: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/jrhtml/jr1947.html

Jacobs, Steve. Whelmer #22: Energy Transfer. Whelmers – McREL's Accessible Science Series, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Accessed October 4, 2004. [Golf ball/ping pong ball energy transfer demo] http://www.mcrel.org/whelmers/whelm22.asp

Momentum: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/momentum/index.cfm

Momentum and energy loss of balls colliding against different surfaces: http://www.iit.edu/~smile/ph8709.html.

The Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu

Other Related Information

Browse the NGSS Engineering-aligned Physics Curriculum hub for additional Physics and Physical Science curriculum featuring Engineering.

Contributors

Supporting program, acknowledgements.

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: August 16, 2023

• TOP CATEGORIES
• AS and A Level
• University Degree
• International Baccalaureate
• Uncategorised
• 5 Star Essays
• Study Tools
• Study Guides
• Meet the Team
• Electricity and Magnetism

The Bouncing Ball Experiment

A Ball Drops:

Energy is needed to do everything.  Light, sound, movement and heat are all examples of things that need energy to exist.  Energy is defined as the ability to do work – to make something happen e.g. to move something.  If something can apply a force over a distance, it has energy. The easiest way to detect energy is when it is changed from one form to another.  To then measure how much energy is present, we can measure the amount of work done whilst the transformation is occurring.

An object can store energy as a result of its position.   When a ball is held at a height, it stores energy.  This stored energy is referred to as potential energy.  It is called potential energy because the ball has the potential to drop (converting the potential energy into kinetic/movement energy), if it is let go of.  The higher the ball is from the ground, the more kinetic energy it will need to fall back down.  The kinetic energy is converted from the Gravitational Potential Energy the ball has when it is elevated. Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position.  The ball falls to the ground due to the force of gravity by converting the gravitational potential energy (GPE) into kinetic energy needed for the ball to move.  The higher the ball is elevated, the more GPE it has.   As the ball falls down, its GPE falls as it is converted into kinetic energy.  The amount of kinetic energy stored in the ball increases as more and more of the gravitational potential energy is converted.  The more kinetic energy the ball has stored, the faster it moves.  The ball increases velocity until it is blocked by something.

Similarly, a drawn bow is able to store energy as a result of its position.  When it is not drawn, it has no potential energy.  When it is drawn and held, it is altered from its usual equilibrium position and it has the potential to fling back into place if let go of.  This is called elastic potential energy.  The further back the bow is drawn, the more elastic potential energy it is given.  This is because it has further to travel to reach its usual place than it would have done and needs more energy to convert into kinetic energy so that it can move back.  

Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position (i.e., height). The energy is stored as the result of the gravitational attraction of the Earth for the object.

The higher a ball is dropped from, the more GPE it has, which is converted into kinetic energy and stored, making its velocity rise further and further as the ball loses GPE.  The more velocity/kinetic energy a ball has when it hits the ground, the more energy there is to be converted.

When the ball hits the ground, there is friction, which transforms some of the kinetic energy into thermal energy (heat) and often sound as well.  All the rest of the kinetic energy that hasn’t been wasted as thermal energy or sound will be transformed into elastic potential energy when the ball comes into contact with the ground.  When a ball hits a surface, all the kinetic energy it has stored is immediately transformed.  The floor, the ball or both become slightly dented out of shape as a result of the velocity and force they collided with.  As the ball and floor try to regain their original shape, they repel each other and immediately transform the elastic potential energy they have stored into kinetic energy.  This energy, now stored in the ball sends it into the air.  The more kinetic energy there was in the ball to begin with, the more energy there will now be left to convert back into kinetic energy.  The ball will rise, or bounce higher.  

If a ball were completely efficient, no energy would be lost during the bouncing process.  For this to happen, no energy can be lost with sound or thermal energy due to friction.  If a ball lost none of this energy whilst being dropped and hitting the floor, it would bounce to the same height as it was dropped from.  The ball needed a certain amount of kinetic energy to move from the height it was dropped from to the surface it hit.  If the ball were completely efficient, it would still have exactly that same amount of energy needed to move it the same distance back to where it was dropped.  Obviously, we do not have the technology at the moment to create a completely efficient bouncing ball so no ball can do this.  However, some balls are more efficient at not losing energy than others.

There are many other factors other than dropping height that affect the bounce height of a ball.  These factors are:

        Surface area of the ball

        Pressure inside the ball

        Material of the ball

        Material of the floor

        The force at which the ball is dropped by

        Accuracy of measurement.

I chose to control the height that the ball was dropped from because with the equipment I was given, I considered it to be the easiest factor for me to control.  Also, I felt that the other factors would be relatively easy for me to keep constant.  If I used the same ball each time, the surface area would always stay the same, as would the pressure inside the ball and the material of the ball.  If I conducted the experiment in the same place on the same surface for each height, the material of the floor could be kept constant.  The person dropping the ball would be the same each time.  They would always drop the ball without exerting any force on it at all; they would hold it lightly, and simply let it go.  This way, all the factors I am not measuring will remain as constant as I can make them.

For my investigation I want to investigate the effect of dropping height on the gravitational potential energy of my ball.  I want to prove or disprove my hypothesis relating drop height with bounce height.  I also want to work out where any lost energy in the experiment has gone.

The Preliminary Experiments:

This is a preview of the whole essay

I have chosen to use a ping-pong ball to investigate.  I chose a ping-pong ball for my investigation because after quickly testing each ball’s bounce height, I found that its bounce height was most suitable for use with the equipment we had.  Now I have chosen which ball to use, I need to carry out some preliminary experiments so that I can effectively plan my investigation.  If I carry out preliminary experiments, I can predict what will go wrong for the real thing, and I will be able to exclude anything that wasn’t quite right from my method.

Aim/Method of Preliminary Experiment:

For my preliminary experiment, the ping-pong ball was dropped from three different heights.  It was dropped from heights of 100cm, 200cm and 300cm from a measured distance up a staircase.  Each reading was repeated three times and an average bounce height was found for each height.  The height of each bounce was measured with metre rulers.

Conclusion:

There were no obviously anomalous results.  I would say that my results are probably quite reliable because we made every effort to make the trial experiment fair, and my results turned out to be as I expected.  The purpose of the preliminary experiment was to give me an idea of how my real thing would go so I would be prepared.  I now know that the person reading the measurement on the ruler must always be the same person, and must view the ruler from the same place each time – head on.   In the trial experiment, there were disputes over where the ball had bounced to because people were standing in different places, so the actual result looked different, depending on where people were standing.  I also discovered from this experiment, that piling rulers on top of each other doesn’t work.  They have to be firmly secured or held by two people.  Otherwise, the ruler will slant slightly.  When the ball bounces, the slant will cause all the ruler measurements to be lower down and the ball will read to be bouncing higher than it actually is.

Now that I have completed my preliminary experiments, and I know what to expect, I can start my main experiment.

What is the Effect of Dropping Height on the Bounce Height of a Ping-Pong Ball?

Hypothesis:

I hypothesise that an increase in dropping height will bring about a directly proportional increase in Gravitational Potential Energy.  This is because as the ball ascends higher from the surface of the earth, the gravitational force of the earth will try to pull it back down.  This gives it a certain energy, which is called gravitational potential energy.  The equation for gravitational potential energy is:

Gravitational Potential Energy  =  mass (kg)   x   Gravitational Field Strength   x   Height (m)

An increase in gravitational potential energy will give the ball more energy to convert into kinetic energy with which it moves.  The amount of kinetic energy needed for the ball to reach the ground will increase as I increase the dropping height.  The GPE is transformed into kinetic energy and this is stored, making the ball move faster.  If a ball has more kinetic energy/velocity when dropped from greater heights, this energy will not all be lost when the ball is falling and hitting the ground.  As soon as there is a collision, both the floor and the ball dent slightly and the remaining energy in the ball is converted into elastic potential energy.  The ball and the floor have no energy being exerted on them to stop the potential energy from being used, so this energy is converted back into kinetic energy as the ball and the floor repel each other to return back to their natural shape.  The ball leaves the floor and keeps rising upwards due to the amount of kinetic energy stored in it.  The more kinetic energy the ball had to begin with, the more it will have stored now and the more it will be able to keep on rising before its energy runs out.  With the height it gains in the bounce, it again has gravitational potential energy to come down again, but this cannot be used to make the ball continue rising even further because gravitational potential energy is stored as a result of the gravitational attraction of the earth for the ball and it can only be used to reach the ground.  A ball having more gravitational potential energy when it is dropped means it will have more kinetic energy when it hits the ground.  There will be more energy left stored in the ball after the ground has been hit and the ball with bounce higher.  Therefore, I predict that the drop height of the ball will be directly proportional to its bounce height.   I predict that my graph of results showing this will show direct proportionality, and have a straight line through the origin.

Apparatus Needed:

One Tape measure

One Caliper

One set of electronic scales

One standard size ping-pong ball

Two Metre-long Rulers

*There must also be access to a staircase that rises to at least five cm (500cm) from the ground.  

A tape measure was used to measure where on the stairs the height we desired from floor to staircase was.  We found where we should stand on the stairs for measuring all the heights from 50cm to 500cm with 50cm gaps in-between each.  Next, the ping-pong ball was measured and weighed so that when it came to doing energy calculations relating to kinetic energy or work done (energy transfer), I would be able to put numbers into them, and form conclusive results.  Two metre rulers were stood on top of each other in front of the 50cm mark and held firmly in place by two people so that they were not slanting or leaning against the staircase. The ping-pong ball was taken to the place on the staircase we had measured to be 50cm from the ground.   The ball was dropped from this height alongside the metre rulers with no force exerted on it.  A different person standing on the ground directly in front of the metre rulers noted the height of the bounce.  This was done three times and an average bounce height for a 50cm drop height was found.  The whole experiment was then repeated using different drop heights of 100cm, 150cm, 200cm, 250cm, 300cm, 350cm, 400cm, 450cm and 500cm. The same person dropped the ping-pong ball each time and the same person noted the bounce height each time.  The same ping-pong ball was used for each experiment.  For each drop height, an average was found and the results recorded.

How I Plan to Make my Results as Accurate and Reliable as Possible:

I will try to do as much as I can with my experiments to reduce the chance of human experimental error and to make my results reliable and accurate.  

I will go through all the factors that affect the bounce height of a ball, and change only the drop height.  I will try to keep all the other factors constant if I can.  

Factor one is surface area of the ball.  This factor will be kept constant because the same ping-pong ball is being used for each experiment.  The surface area won’t vary from experiment to experiment.

Factor two is pressure inside the ball.  If the same ball is being used for each experiment, the pressure inside the ball will also remain constant.

Factor three is the material of the ball.  Again, if the ball is not changed then this factor will remain constant.  This is the same for factor four.  The material of the floor will not change because the experiment is being carried out in the same place each time and the floor alongside the stairs is the same all the way up.

Factor five; the force at which the ball is dropped at will not change because the same person is going to be the one to drop the ball each time.  This means that if a person exerts a force on the ball without realising it, they probably do it with all the experiments.  Using the same person means that although the results will be slightly incorrect due to this human error, the percentage error will always be roughly the same.  The incorrect results will be relative to what they would have been.   Also, the person dropping the ball will try as hard as they can to simply hold the ball lightly between finger and thumb, then simply letting go without pushing it at all.  Hopefully, there should be very little percentage error due to this factor.

Factor six, accuracy of measurement will be the hardest factor to keep constant because it is impossible to get completely accurate results in an experiment like this with the equipment we are provided with.  Human experimental error is a problem because things like reaction times, eyesight and our own judgement cannot be changed and they do affect the end results quite considerably.  Unlike some other factors, the percentage error cannot reliably be found when it comes to human error.  This is because it is impossible to know how long someone’s reaction time was to read the measurement on the ruler when the ball stopped bouncing.  The ball might have already been on its way down when the person read the measurement on the ruler.  It is also impossible for us to measure how much accidental force the person dropping the ping-pong ball exerted onto it when it was dropped.  Sometimes, readings are read wrong due to bad eyesight, and there is no way for this error to be found.  These problems cannot be fully controlled with the equipment available but steps can be taken to avoid them.  This is why the same person reads the bounce height off the rulers, and they stand in exactly the same place for each experiment.  This is why the same person drops the ball each time.  This is why the rulers are held as straight as possible by two people to prevent human error in reading the results.

Safety Precautions:

For most experiments, special safety precautions have to be made so that no one gets harmed in any way.  I will make sure that no-one is walking underneath where the ball is going to be dropped so that no-one gets struck my a fast moving ball.  I will pick up any dropped balls immediately so that nobody trips on them.  I will not lean right over the stair rail at any point during the experiment.  I will be careful when walking up and down the stairs so that I don’t trip and fall.

What I can do with my Results:

When I have got a set of results, I can use them to prove or disprove my hypothesis, relating GPE with drop height and bounce height with drop height.  I can exclude any obviously anomalous results from my results.  I can then draw a graph of my results.  The line of the graph will show me what my results mean.  A straight line through the origin will show direct proportionality.  If all my points line up neatly along the line of best fit, I will know that my results are likely to be reliable and correct.

Obtaining Evidence:

All my tests dropping the ping-pong ball from varying heights along a staircase behaved in the same way.  The higher I moved up on the staircase, the higher the bounce of the ball became:

My results on the whole came out much like I’d expected.  The experiment went to plan and I didn’t find there were any major unexpected difficulties I had to overcome.  I do have one anomalous result in the reading for the 500cm drop height.  I will have to exclude that result from my results because it doesn’t fit the pattern the other results are following.  My new average bounce height for a drop height of 500cm is 181cm .

Graph to Show the Drop Height of a Ping-Pong ball against Its Average Bounce Height.

My hypothesis was slightly incorrect.  I predicted that my graph would have a straight line through the origin.  Instead, my graph was a curve, showing that when I was using the lower drop heights, more of the available kinetic energy was stored and used in the bounce.  As the drop height increased, more and more of the kinetic energy in the ball is lost during the fall and collision with the ground and so the difference between the bounce heights gets smaller.  The average bounce height starts increasing less and less the higher the drop height becomes.  

I think this is because there is an energy-wasting factor that I overlooked.  I overlooked friction due to air resistance in my hypothesis.  The higher the ball is dropped from, the more GPE it has to convert into Kinetic energy, and the faster the ball goes.  As the velocity of a ball increases, so does the air resistance acting on it.  The ball will lose much energy this way.

When the ball is falling, it loses some kinetic energy due to friction with the air resistance.  The faster the ball’s velocity when it is falling (i.e. the more kinetic energy it has stored), the more air resistance it will have and therefore the more kinetic energy it will lose with friction.  Therefore, the higher the drop height, the more energy the ball loses while it is falling.  Obviously, this makes the line of our graph gradually get less steep and form a curve.   In an ideal world, where there is no air resistance and no energy is lost or wasted with friction and sound, I predict that there would be an element of direct proportionality and my graph would be a straight line through he origin.

After looking at my background information, and studying how high my ping-pong bounced in comparison to other balls, I couldn’t work it out.  For some reason, the ping-pong ball bounced the same if not more than e.g. the tennis ball when dropped from the same height.  I didn’t expect this because a tennis ball is squashier than a ping-pong ball.  Therefore I expected it to be better at turning the kinetic energy into elastic potential and repelling the ground.  However, after thinking about it hard and studying the factors that affected the bounce height of a ball, a came to a conclusion why this might be.  A ping-pong ball is very light.  Work done is the same as transferred energy and its formula is:

Work Done   =   Force  x  Distance

The force needed to lift the ping-pong ball is equal to its weight.  The ping-pong ball had a mass of 3 grams, which is a force or weight of 0.03 Neutons.    This is considerably lighter than any of the other balls I could have used.  If a heavier ball was used to find the work done by the floor and the ball with the same experiment, the work done would have come out as higher.  

Work Done   =   Weight of Ball  x  Bounce Height

The higher the weight of the ball, the more energy the ball/floor is going to have to use to push the ball back into the air as a bounce.  The ping-pong ball needs less energy than a heavier ball to bounce the same distance because it requires a smaller force.  

Also, a ping-pong ball is a tight structure and doesn’t sag at all or squash much.  This means that is highly pressurised in the middle.  Therefore when the ping-pong hits the ground, it doesn’t need to be dented as much as other balls to release the same amount of potential energy needed for the bounce.  The energy comes from the pressure inside the ball pushing the ping-pong ball back into its normal position from inside.  The pressure inside gives an added energy because it is constantly pushing against the sides of the ball.

In order to prove my hypothesis correct that drop height is directly proportional to the amount of gravitational potential energy stored in the ball I am going to make some calculations using the formula for GPE.

The GPE formula is:

GPE   =   Height  x  mass  x  Gravitational Field Strength.

Using this formula, I can work out how much GPE the ball had at the start of each experiment, and after the ball has bounced.  I can then work out how much energy has been lost overall and work out how efficient the ball is.  

Now, the amount of energy lost between the dropping and the end of the first bounce can be measured:

This shows that my new theory on why the graph is a curve is probably true.  These results clearly show that the higher the drop height, and the more energy the ball has to begin with, the more energy that is lost altogether.  The only way of explaining all of this is with my theory that air resistance is to blame for the wasted energy, causing my graph to curve.

Evaluation:

Overall, I think that my results were as accurate and reliable as I could make them with t he equipment I was provided with.  I don’t think that seeing how far a ball bounces alongside a ruler and getting a person to measure the bounce is a very accurate or reliable way of carrying out the experiment.  There is too much risk of human or experimental error.  The ball could have been dropped by mechanical means to make sure that no force was exerted on it.  Once my one anomalous result had been excluded, all my results did fit the line of best fit quite closely, which helps to prove that my results are reliable.  My anomalous result was probably due to experimental error e.g. slow reaction times etc.  but it could have also been because it was at the extreme of my range of readings – the very last set of readings I carried out.  

I had enough evidence that I could study to work out why my graph was a curve instead of a straight line.  I also feel that I had enough evidence to back up my conclusion.  All my results did follow a pattern.  I didn’t have any unexplainable results because I took enough tests and averages to even out any slight glitches in the pattern.

If I could extent this experiment even further, I think I would carry out the same experiment with a different ball.  This way, I could relate the results I have gained with a ping-pong ball with results with say a tennis ball.  The pressure inside a tennis ball is different to that of a ping-pong ball.  It would be interesting to see what difference this makes to the results.  Also, the tennis ball is made of a different material and is squashy.  A tennis ball has a bigger surface area than a ping-pong ball because it is bigger.  I predict that air resistance has more effect on a tennis ball than it does on a ping-pong ball.  Therefore I predict that the graph will look very similar in direction, but the graph for the tennis ball will start to curve more dramatically quicker than the ping-pong ball does.  This is because the tennis ball will be losing more energy due to air resistance.

Document Details

• Word Count 4653
• Page Count 13
• Subject Science

Related Essays

physics of the bouncing ball

Energy transformation in a bouncing ball

Remember Me

Shop Experiment Bounce Back – The Pattern of Rebound Heights Experiments​

Bounce back – the pattern of rebound heights.

Experiment #18 from Real-World Math with Vernier

Introduction

When a ball bounces up and down on a flat surface, the maximum height it reaches decreases from bounce to bounce. In fact, the maximum height decreases in a very predictable way for most types of balls. The relationship between the maximum height attained by the ball on a given bounce (which we will call the rebound height ) and number of bounces that have occurred since the ball was released is an exponential

where y represents the rebound height, x represents the bounce number, h is the release height, and p is a constant that depends on the physical characteristics of the ball used. It’s easy to see where this model comes from: Suppose that the ball is released from height h . Then on each bounce it rebounds to a fraction p of the previous maximum height. After zero, one and two bounces, the ball will attain a maximum height of h , hp , ( hp ) p  =  hp 2 , and so forth. The relation above is generalized for any x number of bounces.

In this exercise, you will collect motion data for a bouncing ball using a Motion Detector. You will then analyze this data to test the model y = hp x .

• Record the successive maximum heights for a bouncing ball.
• Model the bounce height data with an exponential function.

Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following sensors and equipment. Additional equipment may be required.

Ready to Experiment?

Ask an expert.

Get answers to your questions about how to teach this experiment with our support team.

• Call toll-free: 888-837-6437
• Chat with Us
• Email [email protected]

Purchase the Lab Book

This experiment is #18 of Real-World Math with Vernier . The experiment in the book includes student instructions as well as instructor information for set up, helpful hints, and sample graphs and data.

How does the height of a ball drop affect the bounce?

The relationship between drop height and bounce height is only linear for small drop heights. Once a ball reaches a certain height, the bounce height will begin to level off because the ball will reach its terminal velocity.

Table of Contents

What energy is lost when a ball is dropped?

Lifting a ball into the air before dropping it gives it a type of energy called ‘potential energy’ – which means the ball has the potential to do some work. When you drop the ball, it gains ‘kinetic’ energy (the energy of motion) and loses its potential energy.

Why doesn’t a ball bounce back to its same height after you drop it?

During a collision, some of the ball’s energy is converted into heat. As no energy is added to the ball, the ball bounces back with less kinetic energy and cannot reach quite the same height.

Why do balls fall at the same speed?

Gravity causes everything to fall at the same speed. This is why balls that weigh different amounts hit the ground at the same time. Gravity is the force acting in a downwards direction, but air resistance acts in an upwards direction.

What causes a ball to bounce higher?

When the ball hits the ground, all that kinetic energy has to go somewhere. A lot of it goes back into the ball, giving it more force to pop back up into the air—so the higher the potential energy, the higher the kinetic energy, and the higher the kinetic energy, the higher the bounce!

Why do heavier balls bounce higher?

The air friction is approximately proportional to the square of the radius at high speeds, and to the radius at low speeds. So for bigger balls the ratio of gravitational to frictional force goes up, compared to small balls. That would tend to make the large balls bounce higher.

Why do balls lose momentum when dropped?

All of the balls lost momentum because there are no perfectly elastic collisions in the real world. Even the most elastic collisions are slightly inelastic. When a ball bounces, energy is transferred to heat, noise or internal energy , which decreases the amount of momentum.

Why does the potential energy decrease as the ball falls?

1 Answer. When a ball falls downward, its potential energy is converted to kinetic energy and hence while kinetic energy increases, its potential energy decreases.

How do you calculate the energy of a dropped ball?

v = m/s. The kinetic energy just before impact is equal to its gravitational potential energy at the height from which it was dropped: K.E. = J.

Why do heavier balls bounce less?

How do forces act to make a rubber ball bounce when you drop it.

The molecules of the floor resist the ball on impact and push the ball back, upward. The actual force acting is due to the forces between molecules that allow the floor to keep its integrity and to prevent the ball from passing through.

What is the dependent variable in the bouncing ball experiment?

Because we can drop the ball from any height we choose, the drop height is called the independent variable. But since the rebound height depends on the drop height, the rebound height is called the dependent variable.

Why do heavier things fall faster?

Moreover, given two objects of the same shape and material, the heavier (larger) one will fall faster because the ratio of drag force to gravitational force decreases as the size of the object increases.

Which object will fall first?

The force due to gravitation and air resistance. In the absence of air resistance, both heavy and the lighter object will hit the ground at the same time. If the air resistance is present, the air resistance will slow down the lighter object. Therefore the heavier object will hit the ground first.

Does a heavier object fall faster?

Answer 1: Heavy objects fall at the same rate (or speed) as light ones. The acceleration due to gravity is about 10 m/s2 everywhere around earth, so all objects experience the same acceleration when they fall.

How does pressure affect the bounce of a ball?

With more air in the ball, the air starts at higher pressure and pushes back that much harder when the ball is bounced. So that short answer is that more inflated basketballs bounce better because they have more air pressure inside them.

Does the height of drop affect height of bounce?

If the drop height increases, then the resulting bounce height will also increase, because as the drop height increases, so does the gravitational potential energy which can be converted back into kinetic energy on the rebound.

What law of motion is bouncing ball?

Newton’s Third Law of Motion: Action-Reaction The reaction force is when the ball bounces up from the ground or bounces back from the object it was thrown at. This example relates to Newton’s third law because it follows the rules of the law. For every time the ball is dropped (action) it bounces back (reaction.)

Which force will determine the quality of bounce?

Or rather, the friction force is always opposite the direction of the slip velocity between the spinning ball and the surface. Since the friction force is opposite of the ball’s spin, it torques the ball in the other direction. It also causes the path of the ball’s bounce to skew in the direction of the friction force.

Is a bouncing ball elastic or inelastic?

In an elastic collision, not only is momentum is conserved, but also kinetic energy. The total kinetic energy of the system (which includes the objects that collide) is the same before and after the collision. An example of an elastic collision would be a super-bouncy ball.

Does the temperature of a ball affect how high it bounces?

One factor that can influence the bounce of a ball is the temperature of the ball. A warmer ball will bounce higher than a cold one. The reason for this is twofold. In a hollow ball, the change in temperature causes a change in air pressure within the ball.

Is momentum conserved when a ball is dropped?

When a body drops from a height, it gains momentum down, while the earth gains the same momentum up. Since the earth is very massive, you can not observe its motion in reaction. Same goes for a ball rolling downhill.

Which ball has a greater impulse?

1. The clay ball exerts a larger impulse because it sticks.

How is energy conserved when a ball bounces?

The ball has the force of gravity, which is conserved while traveling down towards the ground. While it is traveling the potential energy is being transformed into kinetic energy, which demonstrates a conservation of energy. However, the total energy , KE + PE decreases with each bounce of the ball.

What happens to the stored energy after the ball fell to the ground?

It has only been converted into gravitational potential energy. Dropping the ball will release the stored energy; as the ball falls, it transforms the potential to a kinetic form as it moves. When the ball hits the ground, the kinetic energy will be absorbed by the ground as heat or released as sound that you can hear.

Craving More Content?

Read our latest blog posts

Which igcse is the hardest.

1) IGCSE Additional Mathematics Additional Mathematics is by far, through student consensus, the hardest IGCSE subject. It is not regular Mathematics, and has quite an extensive…

How do you calculate the thrill of a roller coaster?

You can use this information to calculate the thrill of each drop according to the definition: The thrill of a drop is the product of the…

When a balloon is rubbed on clothes What acquires a charge?

When one object is rubbed against another, static electricity can be created. This is because the rubbing creates a negative charge that is carried by electrons.…

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Best way to measure rebound height of a ball accurately and precisely?

We were tasked with designing an experiment based on measuring the efficiency of a bouncing ball. And so for this we would have to calculate the rebound height experimentally to obtain a quantity useable for measuring efficiency.

However, when trying to measure the height it reaches with the naked eye we encounter errors on reaction time and measurement against a piece of straight meausing tape.

Should this be first attended in a simulation under similar conditions or is there a way to measure the height the ball rebounds to with an accurate enough measurement in the physical world

One more thing how do we make sure that no force is added from the person when we drop the ball from a selected height. We did think of putting it on a piece of paper and pulling it away so it would fall untouched by us but that only created downspin and hence an incorrect measurement

Thanks for your help

• newtonian-mechanics
• experimental-physics

As for measuring the rebound height, I would suggest you use a camera (make sure the camera is fixed, not hand held). Drop the ball alongside a wall with a ruler or other tape measure fixed on the wall. You may get errors due to parallax so place the camera relative to the ball and ruler so as to minimise errors caused by parallax . Note the height of the bottom of the ball at the instant it stops on the way up (with a camera you can freeze at this particular point) before it returns to the ground.

Also, to make it so that you do not impart a force or spin to the ball while dropping it, I guess the only thing you can do is drop it carefully. Hold it in between two fingers and release them simultaneously.

Also, to minimise error, do the experiment over and over so that you can average the valuses you get.

Your Answer

Sign up or log in, post as a guest.

Required, but never shown

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy .

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged newtonian-mechanics kinematics experimental-physics or ask your own question .

• Featured on Meta
• Join Stack Overflow’s CEO and me for the first Stack IRL Community Event in...
• User activation: Learnings and opportunities

Hot Network Questions

• Build exterior cabin walls using plywood siding
• Number theory: Can all rational numbers >1 be expressed as a product of rational numbers >1?
• Sum of the individual kinetic energies of the particles which make the system the same as the K.E. of the center of mass? What's bad in my reasoning?
• How to assign a definition locally?
• Is there a "hard problem of aesthetics?"
• Genetic engineering of adult subjects with transform viruses
• Simple XML string to user-friendly plain text converter method in Java
• Difference between "老", "旧" and "之前" when translating basing on the context?
• For a fixed angle of attack, can increasing your speed cause a stall?
• Bach's figured bass notation?
• How is AC and DC defined?
• Futuristic/Dystopian teen book trilogy with people that can breathe underwater
• LTspice Pulse Help
• Is SQL .bak file compressed without explicitly stating to compress?
• Counting the number of meetings
• “…[it] became a ______ for me.” Why is "gift" the right answer?
• Xcode 16.0 : unexpected service error: The Xcode build system has crashed
• How to get on to the roof?
• AppData/Roaming. Moving. Error. "More than 256 characters long" filenames
• My one-liner 'delete old files' command finds the right files but will not delete them
• "00000000000000"
• Would Dicyanoacetylene Make a Good Flamethrower Fuel?
• Mark 6:54 - Who knew/recognized Jesus: the disciples or the crowds?
• A thought experiment regarding elliptical orbits