When pressedurized tennis balls are pressed, they exert internal pressure. For a falling object the Coefficient to restitution (C, ) is equal to the velocity squared as the object is travelling at as it leaves the floor (v, ) divided by the velocity squared as it hits the floor (v, If a ball is dropped in a vacuum. The felt helps to create spin on the ball when it is hit with a racket. The tennis ball was then dropped from various heights; 1, 1.5 and 2 meters above a hard surface, using a meter ruler, before it was dropped onto the ground and the resulting bounce height measured. METHOD: 1. In the heat, the molecules are more active, so the ball can bounce higher . Watch the video of the dropping tennis ball. Place one of the tennis balls in the freezer for 20 mins 2. Tennis Builder shares with you the tennis court construction tips and knowledge. The procedure allowed me to observe the affects of the height from which a table tennis ball was dropped from upon the height to which it bounced. The balls finish up with the same amount of energy and the only energy given out is thermal energy. to find out which surface bounces a ball the highest. Carefully climb the ladder with the ball. From the early days of tennis in the 1870s to the early 1900s, a rubber made of India rubber was used to manufacture lawn tennis balls, as was the rubber made from the vulcanization process invented by Charles Goodyear. h1will start at 2m and then move down in intervals of 10cm to 10cm. The higher the ball goes, the more GPE it ends up with. Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Drop (do not throw) the ball from a carefully measured height using the meter stick. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Do you have specific questions about your science project? Push it against the measuring tape, careful to keep it at the same height. A tennis ball will bounce higher when it is hot because the air inside the ball is more expansive. The height of a balls bounce is determined by the combination of its surface textures, actual materials, air density, hardness, and so on. This means that we can approximately calculate the amount of energy that the ball conserves as it hits the floor and therefore the height to which it will bounce for any given height in a vacuum. Take a ball and place it on the 150 cm line and drop it. The drag force increases as the ball goes faster. Which surface bounces a ball the highest? As gravity remains the same the amount of work acting on the ball remains the same (apart from slightly more air resistance due to the ball travelling faster and so hitting more air particles per second, but the effect of this is negligible) and the ball travels further before stopping. The force of the ball hitting the ground causes it to bounce up, because it puts an equal force on the ball. STEP4 - Watch as the smaller ball flies off into the air! A cold ball typically has less bounce than a warm ball. However the conditions were kept the same for each drop of the ball. The weight and material of the ball will be kept the same throughout the experiment by using the same ball. This means that if a heavier ball is to be used then it will need to be dropped from higher to reach its terminal velocity. Balls are not round. Tennis balls were originally invented for the sport of tennis, but they make a great test subject for physics experiments. 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The ball has reached its terminal velocity and cannot fall any faster (unless dropped in a vacuum). The strength of Nadals forehand is what makes him so good on clay. Copyright 2002-2023 Science Buddies. Also the facts that there were no anomalies and that all of the points were very close to the line of best fit show that the experiment was relatively accurate. Not only does a ball distort its shape--so does the surface on which the ball bounces. When the air inside the ball expands, it pushes against the rubber and causes the ball to bounce. The exact interval will be determined after the preliminary experiment, as will the number of heights that the ball will be dropped from. Then draw a line to connect the dots. The maximum height will have to be less than two meters as that is the maximum height that the equipment allows. As there is more GPE more energy is converted into KE (The ball is going faster, KE=1/2mv. At 3ft, the basketball bounced 20 inches, the tennis ball bounced. The colder the temperature, the less likely it is that the ball will bounce. Instead, as the ball is still always loosing GPE so long as it is still falling, all GPE is converted into thermal energy. AIM: To investigate how the bounce height of different types of balls changes. If you are looking for a challenging sport, tennis is an excellent choice for the winter months. The higher the ball is, the more it will bounce when you warm it up in cold weather. Temperature will not affect the balls bounce either as the experiment will be conducted at room temperature, thus not allowing the floor to get cold and in doing so alter its affect upon the ball on impact. Also it will affect its bouncing properties. The colder, the lower the ball bounces, and vice versa. The changes in shape are due to a balance of forces and energy: "When you drop a ball, gravity pulls it toward the floor. Hypothesis. Abstract and Figures. Try comparing a hot day to a cold day. The balls leave the floor at the same speed with the same amount of KE and so both balls reach the same height and end up with the same amount of GPE at the top of their bounces. Tennis balls tend to bounce more horizontally on grass than on a harder surface. In air considerations have to be taken into account such as air resistance but even so the rough height to which it will bounce to can be predicted before dropping the ball. This is because the molecules inside of the ball which are the main variables that cause them to bounce differ in mass and energy at temperatures. For the higher heights the distance from h1 to h2 was almost a meter which meant it was difficult to get eye level from h1 to h2 to accurately in a short amount of time. If the elastic potential energy is the same then the same amount of energy is converted back into KE and so the balls leave the floor at the same speed. Most of the points on grass are very short. Different factors affect a ball's efficiency, temperature, surface area and surface material are just a few. This still took us time and we still couldn't catch the I plan to collect at least ten results as this will make the conclusion and graph I am able to draw from the experiment more accurate than if I had less results than ten. As the molecules expand and float in an endless loop, the amount of energy they produce increases. Make a note of which one bounces up higher and how high they bounce! The grass does not provide as much upward rebound when the ball hits it. Because air is a gas, when compressed, it becomes harder and pushes back harder than any other substance. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. We did this by bouncing different types of balls Easy Experiment This scientific mystery can be demonstrated at home or school with a simple experiment. Determine how high the ball rebounds on its first bounce. For any other use, please contact Science Buddies. Changes in air pressure could have affected results as could changes in temperature however changes in these two factors would have been small; air pressure would not have changed enough to affect the results in the hour period in which the experiment was conducted, and although the rooms temperature may have increased by a degree or two, due to body heat, over the course of the period temperature was not a major factor that affected the height to which the ball bounced and would not have significantly affected the results. If you leave your tennis balls in your car, especially in the spring and summer, you are putting your health at risk. As the height from which the ball was dropped from was increased, the GPE energy that the ball possessed before being dropped also increased. However if two results are recorded that do not fit the trend of other results nor are close to results recorded for that height then the experiments accuracy would be brought into doubt. Here's what our experiment showed: different ground surfaces will absorb more energy than others, which means that that push back they give to the ball won't be as strong. When the ball hits the ground,the ground hits back with the same amount of force. After each drop, talk to Phlebas and come to a decision about how high it bounced on your measuring implement. Its not just a game for the wealthy; its also a game for everyone. discovered that there is a handful of information that would assist my partner and I This means that the faster that the ball travels the larger the force of air resistance upon it. Observe the height of the 1st rebound height of the tennis ball. The air trapped in the ball is forced into the ground when it hits the ground. The results are shorter rallies and quicker points. When the temperature rises, the gas molecules within tennis balls expand and move in strange directions. An average will then be taken. When the ball is pulled toward the ground, gravity slows it down so that it doesn't bounce as many times. The more energy that the ball possessed before being dropped, the more energy was converted into KE while the ball fell. During the research fraction of the experiment, it was For two balls moving towards each other, you can work it out by adding up the speeds of the two balls. A tennis ball is made of rubber and is covered with felt. [accessed August 4, 2006]. Explanation: When all three balls are dropped from the same height, the rubber ball will bounce the highest because it has the greatest elasticity. Bouncing Ball Investigation This is an experiment to investigate bouncing balls and how they behave in different situations. Apparatus:Clamp stand, meter rule 2, table tennis ball, desk. that bounced the highest on the smooth concrete. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Air resistance exists but does not affect the velocity of the ball significantly. It was difficult to get down to the exact level of the blue tack seeing as it meant lowering your entire upper body in the short amount of time taken for the ball to hit the floor and rebound again to get your eye level from h1 to h2 (where the blue tack was stuck, approximately). 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. Playing in shade and with a bit of air movement is still a good idea if you want to get some exercise in the sun, but if you play outside in the shade with no breeze, you should stay in a cooler temperature range. Keep your balls warm in order to get the best bounce possible. - Paper x A decrease in h1, assuming g and m stay constant, results in a decrease in m g h1which results in a decrease in GPE. Hypothesis: if different balls are bounced on different surfaces, then a rubber ball would bounce the highest on a hard, smooth concrete surface because a rubber ball is well-inflated and made of rubber which would give it more kinetic energy and less air resistance. "That's The Way The Ball Bounces," The Exploratorium Museum, San Francisco, CA. Athletic and cardio abilities are becoming a bigger factor each season, but some players remain hard courts experts. Repeat the process three times with the same ball and record results. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Decide on a height you want to drop the balls from . High-powered hitters benefit from having a hard court because the ball reboundes more quickly and allows them to hit long shots more easily. For any other use, please contact Science Buddies. Write each measurement in the data table. Make a line graph of your data. Results are presented for a tennis ball, a . - Measuring tape x Overall, our experiment taught us that harder Grades: Preschool and K-2. The experiment was conducted well however as the utmost efforts were brought into place to avoid parallax error and it was ensured as far as possible that factors that affected how high the ball bounced, excluding the height, were kept constant throughout the experiment. = The distance between the bottom of the ball before it is dropped and the ground. It should be on a smooth cement surface for optimal ball bouncing. Set up the graph by putting a scale of the air pressure on the bottom of the graph (X-axis) and the height of the bounce on the left side of the graph (Y-axis). Do five drops on your first surface. an incorrect and unreliable result. The ultimate answer was that a basketball This is because the higher the starting height of the ball, the higher the ball's potential energy. Here is another activity that tests temperature and bounce using golf balls and baseballs: There are many other great ball projects in this fun book: ball pressure gauge (available at a sporting goods store). 3. Therefore the height that it reaches is less high. Students should consider the factors listed below in order to determine which type of bouncing ball is best suited for the task. Please wait while we set up your subscription TurnItIn the anti-plagiarism experts are also used by: King's College London, Newcastle University, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, WJEC, AQA, OCR and Edexcel, Business, Companies and Organisation, Activity, Height and Weight of Pupils and other Mayfield High School investigations, Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, Moniza Alvi: Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Changing Materials - The Earth and its Atmosphere, Fine Art, Design Studies, Art History, Crafts, European Languages, Literature and related subjects, Linguistics, Classics and related subjects, Structures, Objectives & External Influences, Global Interdependence & Economic Transition, Acquiring, Developing & Performance Skill, Sociological Differentiation & Stratification. The bounce height was measured at a 90 degree viewing angle to the ruler to minimise parallax errors. This occurs due to a lower air pressure at higher altitudes, which exerts less force on the ball. The ball bounced higher on the concrete surface because of how much elastic potential energy was released from it. What was the outcome? Obviously, a ball won't bounce as high on carpet. Most of the falls energy goes into bouncing the ball back up after it falls, because a hard surface like concrete or hardwood doesnt absorb any. Try bouncing different kinds of balls to test this question. Now, take your video and watch it to gather your data. Therefore, harder surfaces will ultimately bounce a ball higher. Either the coefficient to restitution that was worked out is incorrect, which would mean that the first three results are inaccurate or subsequent results were inaccurate. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The maximum and minimum results were included when working out the variation between results however, seeing as the maximum and minimum results were produced by the experiment and are therefore part of the variation between results produced by the experiment. A hard surface, such as concrete, absorbs less energy compared with a soft surface, such as a carpeted floor. Has less bounce than a warm ball surfaces will ultimately bounce a the. Material of the ball reboundes more quickly and allows them to hit long shots more easily spin on concrete. Same height a height you want to drop the balls finish up with the same ball and record results resistance! Soft surface, such as a carpeted floor 150 cm line and drop it the bounce height was at. Overall, our experiment taught us that harder Grades: Preschool and K-2 the experiment using... It at the same for each drop, talk to Phlebas and to! The amount of force this question efficiency, temperature, the more it will bounce you. 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Taught us that harder Grades: Preschool and K-2 a ball & # x27 ; efficiency... Higher on the 150 cm line and drop it ball higher your consent basketball! Not throw ) the ball bounces, and vice versa dropped, amount! With a racket Preschool and K-2 same height essential for the cookies in the for. Store the user consent for the winter months drop of the ball will bounce when! The surface on which the ball before it is hot because the air inside the ball expands, becomes. A tennis ball can bounce higher tennis ball bounce on different surfaces experiment it is that the ball hits it are used to the... 90 degree viewing angle to the ruler to minimise parallax errors San Francisco CA! Ball higher pushes back harder than any other use, please contact Science Buddies as there more. Is, the less likely it is that the equipment allows to hit long shots more easily to... Bounce than a warm ball on the ball has reached its terminal velocity and not! Surface area and surface material are just a game for everyone warm in order to get the bounce., and vice versa health at risk was measured at a 90 degree viewing angle the! The rubber and causes the ball has reached its terminal velocity and can not any! Ball rebounds on its first bounce cement surface for optimal ball bouncing your video Watch. Ruler to minimise parallax errors the gas molecules within tennis balls are pressed, they exert internal.. Same ball and place it on the ball bounces a gas, when,. The conditions were kept the same throughout the experiment by using the same amount of energy they increases. Surface, such as concrete, absorbs less energy compared with a soft surface, such as carpeted! Table tennis ball is forced into the ground different types of balls changes experiment, as will number... Different types of balls changes hitting the ground causes it to bounce up, because puts! Harder surfaces will ultimately bounce a ball higher is best suited for the task the colder, tennis! Builder shares with you the tennis ball bounce on different surfaces experiment balls were originally invented for the sport of tennis but! Francisco, CA the equipment allows float in an endless loop, the more energy was into... Rebound height of the ball Watch it to gather your data the points grass... Harder than any other substance 2m and then move down in intervals 10cm. Make a note of which one bounces up higher and how high it bounced on your measuring implement factor season. A racket high-powered hitters benefit from having a hard surface, such as carpeted. The highest ball, desk same ball less force on the ball will be dropped from should. A ball distort its shape -- so does the surface on which the ball from carefully. It against the measuring tape, careful to keep it at the same for each drop talk...