stay constant, results in an increase in m g h, stay constant, results in a decrease in m g h, The surface onto which the ball is dropped will affect the height to which the ball bounces because for any two objects that collide, the properties of both determine the percentage of the kinetic energy either possesses approaching the collision that is conserved subsequent to the collision taking place (Coefficient to restitution) discounting the effects of air resistance. ping pong 2 cm 3 cm 2 cm 2 cm, basketball 82 cm 84 cm 80 82 By using a simple tennis ball and a thermometer, kids can measure the temperature of the ball and see how it changes as the game goes on. What was the outcome? Gas molecules move more slowly at temperatures below freezing, causing them to contract and contract. It does not store any personal data. Choosing The Right Shoes For Paddle Tennis, How To Decide If Tennis Shoes Are Appropriate For A Rooftop Event. Keep releasing pressure and repeating the experiment until the ball no longer bounces. If the ball bounces up more than .5 meter then, it is more elastic. When the molecules are colder, they move more slowly and the ball doesnt expand as much. If the coefficient to restitution = 0.7, a ball dropping from h1in a vacuum would reach the height of 0.7 h1 after bouncing. faced. The different types of tennis court surfaces are hard, clay, carpet, and grass. The amount of energy absorbed by the surface will affect the bounce of the ball. The ball showed signs of reaching terminal velocity because the drag force began to approach the force gravity exerts upon the mass of the ball. C. The tennis ball is made for more of a bounce when it is used for the game tennis. Is it a straight line? present. Although we had all these challenges, When it hits the ground, the bottom of the ball becomes flat against the floor. This is correct unless the ball shows signs of reaching terminal velocity. Ball trial 1 trail 2 trial 3 average 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. Such an impact compresses the ball 1.4-1.6 inches, or about 54-62% of its diameter. Different courts are better suited to each players style. The air trapped in the ball is forced into the ground when it hits the ground. found that different surfaces absorb different amounts of energy, and the less For any other use, please contact Science Buddies. The higher the ball is, the more it will bounce when you warm it up in cold weather. 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. The temperature of a tennis ball can affect its bounce height. Therefore the results are valid. 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. 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. Height will be the variable that we will vary. You can check the weather stats at. This will hopefully discount any anomalies automatically and leave us with three accurate and reliable results. energy a surface absorbs, the more of it will remain for a ball to bounce. Air resistance exists but does not affect the velocity of the ball significantly. In modern tennis, the differences and subtleties of each surface tend to disappear. I'm a semi-professional tennis player for 15 years, and I can clearly claim that tennis court is my 2nd home. The reason is that the molecules in the ball are more active when they are warmer, so they push against each other harder, and the ball expands more. The temperature of the balls varies depending on their origin, but heated balls bounce the most, room temperature balls the least, and refrigerated balls the most. Then when dropping the ball again eye level will be kept level with the blue tack thus avoiding parallax errors. The International Tennis Federation divides the surface into levels based on speed, with slow being level one and fast level five. Hypothesis: if different balls are bounced on different surfaces, then a rubber ball When the ball was dropped from the higher heights the ball began to show signs of reaching its terminal velocity before it reaches the ground. Balls lose up to a gram even after minimal use (if 30 bounces and throws by a ball machine count as minimal). Best hard court players of all time (2020, January 12). As the ball falls to the surface it has kinetic energy. Try comparing two days with different atmospheric pressure. There is a chance that you will bounce. To find out what affects the height to which a ball bounces. Therefore the height the ball bounces will be proportional to the height that the ball is dropped from up to a certain point, where the ball begins to show signs of reaching its terminal velocity before it reaches the ground. When printing this document, you may NOT modify it in any way. Hypothesis If I increase the height from which a ball is dropped then the bounce height will increase because it will increase the speed and create a larger impact causing the ball to bounce higher then dropping it from a lower height. As the molecules expand and float in an endless loop, the amount of energy they produce increases. When the temperature rises above 90 degrees, it becomes extremely dangerous to play tennis outside. 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. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. - Four surfaces (carpet, rough concrete, dirt and smooth concrete). - Paper x From dropping the ball we can see how high the ball will bounce to after having a loss or gain of energydue to sound or movement of the ball as it hits a hard surface. The decision for the size of interval and the amount of results collected will depend upon the time taken to conduct the experiment and any other factors that may become apparent during the preliminary experiment. For the lowest three points air resistance is approximately equal to zero due to the ball having a low velocity, as it was dropped from a low height, and therefore hits less air particles per second than a ball traveling at a faster speed. This is why basketballs typically require nine to twelve PSI of air, and why balls used in professional and college games require twelve to thirteen PSI of air. AIM: To investigate how the bounce height of different types of balls changes. The slim taper of the KBS S Taper acoustic guitar makes it simple to play and hold. Tennis cannot be played at a certain temperature; however, 70-90 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. Record the new pressure reading in your data table and repeat steps 4 and 5. Let the ball bounce until it stops, and then stop recording. If you string your racket 2 pounds lower in the winter, it will bounce more. When the temperature drops, gas molecules in close proximity. One way to measure the amount of air that is in a ball is with an air pressure gauge. A cold tennis ball bounces lower than a warm one. The ball did not appear to reach its terminal velocity which also supports my prediction. Harder balls have a higher recovery rate than softer ones, and clay-based balls have a higher recovery rate than rubber or synthetic balls. As there is more GPE more energy is converted into KE (The ball is going faster, KE=1/2mv. A variety of surfaces can be used to create a tennis court, each with its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This is because it is easiest as the figure read of the meter rule is the result. For instance, you can use old balls for the second round of the experiment compared to new balls. [accessed August 4, 2006]. But what makes a ball bounce? September 28, 2022 by George Jackson. 2. The experiment was conducted as the method (below) states. The experiment is designed to measure the height of the ball at each bounce and to determine the amount of energy lost during the bouncing process. h2= The distance between the bottom of the ball at the top of its arc after bouncing and the ground. This also proves the accuracy of the experiment. This will be called the average of the middle three repeats. Although catching small balls was an issue, we solved it by getting our better Leave the tennis balls in place for at least one to three hours, if possible. small balls sometimes, but we could have improved this by taking many attempts After each drop, talk to Phlebas and come to a decision about how high it bounced on your measuring implement. Balls bounce up to 5 . These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The results of the experiment were obtained with a method that ensured that every drop was under similar conditions which ensured a fair test. composition so it was higher up in the air, with this we were able to catch the balls experiment. The balls finish up with the same amount of energy and the only energy given out is thermal energy. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.Privacy Policy | Affiliate Disclosure. This therefore provides accurate and reliable results. But how does concrete . As a result, the ball is lifted in this manner. The height of a balls bounce is affected by its material properties, as well as other factors. Removing the maximum and minimum results and taking an average of the middle three results also provided more accurate results. 30% of the energy that the ball hits the floor wit is lost. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. order to give a fair experiment. As energy cannot be created or destroyed it follows that the energy must have come from the energy that the ball possesses. If the drag is less the ball will fall faster and is less likely to reach its terminal velocity. We use cookies and those of third party providers to deliver the best possible web experience and to compile statistics. Drag is a squared function of velocity and therefore as the ball drops drag increases a greater amount each second. An increase in h1, assuming g and m stay constant, results in an increase in m g h1 which results in an increase in GPE. Basketballs have been around for over a hundred years, and they have undergone a lot of evolution in terms of shape, size, and inflation. Each of the following experiments tests a different hypothesis. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. - Sticky tape - 1 roll. A cold tennis ball will not bounce as high because the air inside the ball is not as expansive. This would mean that one could re-examine the height to which it bounced to and find it exactly instead of having to make a split second judgement which is not half as accurate. This still took us time and we still couldn't catch the from the ball, therefore causing it to bounce higher than it normally would on dirt They're filled with air and surrounded in a yellow felt-covered rubber, giving the ball better aerodynamics. To get started, all you'll need are two balls of different sizes - we recommend something like a basketball and a tennis ball. . Carpet2. Our simple experiment is to drop a ping pong ball weighed at 3 grams from a height of 1 metre then 90cm, 80cm, 70cm, 60cm, 50cm, 40cm and of course zero cm. Answer (1 of 4): The height to which a ball bounces depends on several factors: 1) The height from which it is dropped, 2) Whether it was thrown down or just dropped and how hard it was thrown, 3) How much energy is lost in the ball during the collision with the floor 4) How much energy is lost . will differ from the height that the ball would have reached had it been dropped in a vacuum. As the ball falls it hits against air particles. The balls bounced higher on the concrete For the lower heights the flight time of the ball was extremely short and again it was difficult to move ones head over the distance from h1 to h2 in order to obtain accurate results. An increase in m, assuming g and h1stay constant, results in an increase in m g h1 which results in an increase in GPE. Abstract and Figures. METHOD: 1. How can you measure the height a ball bounces? High bounce ball 2. All rights reserved. This is due to two factors. Floor BoardsEach of the drops was performed 5 times to get an accurate Reading and Average.In this experiment this shown what types of surfaces absorb a lot of the dispersed energy and the surface and which ones do not do it as well.This was done on iMovie and took 2 Hours to Create.So Please Enjoy! This will be a table tennis ball. The ball weighs exactly 2.5g. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. This experiment would provide me with more results that are relevant to the experiment that I have already conducted. The ball exerts less pressure when it is at higher altitudes because of the lower air pressure. Tennis Builder shares with you the tennis court construction tips and knowledge. Does it slope up or down? It will be vinyl tiling. highest on hard, smooth surfaces. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot. Vacuum pump, rigid plastic cylinder, two large rubber bungs to fit over the two ends of the plastic cylinder, table tennis ball, Two meter stick rulers. however, by bringing a ladder or stool to catch the balls perfectly on time. This is due to an inelasticity in the energy lost when the ball collides with the ground, as well as the fact that the ball bounces every time it is hit. Keep a close eye on the ball, and instruct Phlebas to do the same. The reason balls bounce is quite advanced science. Also it will affect its bouncing properties. The Modus 120 pickup enables you to produce some of the most amazing sound combinations. All rights reserved. The pressure inside the tennis ball determines how high it will bounce after it has been hit. we were able to work our way around them, giving us a more successful Tennis balls bounce due to 3 factors which all work seamlessly together: 1. There are more than 160 different types of tennis surfaces. Therefore the ball goes higher. One of the hunks of information we found was The variation between results was obtained by taking the minimum result away from the maximum result. This means it will be travelling the same speed when it hits the ground. 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. Place the tape measurer against the edge of a wall using the bluetack 3. The ball has reached its terminal velocity and cannot fall any faster (unless dropped in a vacuum). It provided me with five repeats so that the maximum and minimum results could be discounted and a reliable average could be taken. 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. When the temperature of a tennis ball changes, it becomes more elastic and has an intriguing reaction with its gas-filled core. As velocity increases air resistance increases in proportion to the square of the velocity. The balls finish up with the same amount of energy and the only energy given out is thermal energy. Repeat the process three times with the same ball and record results. Place four tennis balls in a freezer, four in a refrigerator, four at room temperature and four outside in the sun. Manipulated Variable: different surfaces on which the tennis ball is bounced (This is the only thing you can change.) So whether you're looking to learn more about the sport or just stay up-to-date on the latest news, we've got you covered. For any other use, please contact Science Buddies. The difference between the predicted height and the actual height will provide evidence as to how air resistance affects the flight of the ball. You can shrink your hat without it becoming too bulky by wrapping it in a heat shrink. The impact duration was between 65 and 71 ms. In this experiment you will use a ball filled with air. hypothesis, we predicted that a rubber ball would bounce the highest on rough By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. With heavy topspin on high-friction surfaces, the horizontal velocity of the ball is attenuated greatly after the ball strikes the court, and the ball jumps into the air in ways that seem unnatural to players accustomed to playing only on hardtop. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A decrease in m, assuming g and h1stay constant, results in a decrease in m g h1which results in a decrease in GPE. The same square of tiling will be used throughout the experiment so that inconsistencies between different floor tiles do not affect results. These both support my prediction and show that my prediction was correct. You will need to be able to stop the video to make your measurements when the ball is at its highest point in the first bounce. Tennis balls on hard courts have a greater bounce and speed than on artificial turf or grass courts. The temperature of the tennis ball has an impact on its bounce. h1will start at 2m and then move down in intervals of 10cm to 10cm. Different Surfaces Equal Different Bounce Balls get distorted when they bounce. Temperature can change the internal pressure of a tennis ball, which causes it to feel hotter. The ball shoots up with less energy because of this. It was more reliable to use the middle three results as it automatically discounted any anomalies; assuming two similar anomalies were recorded for one height, if they were then they both would be discounted. It's the speed of the tennis ball compared to what it's bouncing off that's important. I will drop the ball 3 The force of the ball hitting the ground causes it to bounce up, because it puts an equal force on the ball. Warmer balls bounce better than cold ones. The colder the temperature, the less likely it is that the ball will bounce. The reason clay courts are more effective for low-power hitters is because the ball keeps bouncing higher and higher. This is the reason we put in our hypothesis that a Take a ball and place it on the 150 cm line and drop it. Hot balls were the more likely to bounce higher than cold balls. The acceleration due to gravity causes the ball to change direction and start moving downwards at stage 2. Reverse Engineering: Ball Bounce Experiment Hands-on Activity Reverse Engineering: Ball Bounce Experiment (2 Ratings) Click here to rate Quick Look Partial design process Grade Level: 4 (3 - 5) Time Required: 1 hours 45 minutes (2 or 3 class periods) Group Size: 3 Subject Areas: Students investigate balls and their bounce copyright Summary The longer it takes to stop, the higher it bounces to. In this practical, students may use a variety of different balls to determine which type is most efficient. When the ball deforms, its molecules are stretched apart in some places and squeezed together in others. As an example, on the day we performed our experiment, a strong wind was It shows that heights were recorded that exceeded the height that the ball would have reached had it been dropped in a vacuum. This means that not all the GPE is converted into KE as it would have been if the ball had been dropped in a vacuum. Gravel got bounced on the least, 1 time . The only difference between the balls is that the ball dropped from a higher height gives out more thermal energy. From the above table it can be seen that there were inaccuracies in the experiment. Method: 1. The bounce of the ball is a major factor in the game of tennis. 3. They are typically softer, allowing them to give them a little more space and make them easier to hit. the "bouncing balls" experiment. Averages are more reliable than using one result as they take into account variation between results. Introduction: 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. The approach was to place 3 tennis balls in 4 different environments with different temperatures. Now, take your video and watch it to gather your data. The steel ball on an unvarnished pine wood floor may not bounce at all, but rather make a dent, and so what the floor is made out of makes quite a lot of difference. Measure from the bottom of the ball. "Under Pressure: Ball Bouncing Dynamics.". Results are presented for a tennis ball, a . This is because it is easiest as the figure read of the meter rule is the result. This can be explained by two factors. 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. Because of this, a fully inflated ball may look deflated if the temperature drops quickly. Tennis balls tend to bounce more horizontally on grass than on a harder surface. 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. consisted of us randomly selecting different balls along with different surfaces. I also Science Buddies Staff. In this experiment, one will place the tennis ball at room temperature, freezing temperature, hot temperature, and cold temperature. The ball bounces pretty badly when its on a soft surface because it absorbs more energy from the fall. Use the pressure gauge to release some of the air pressure from the ball. Not only does a ball distort its shape--so does the surface on which the ball bounces. Place one of the tennis balls in the freezer for 20 mins 2. The purpose of the experiment is to determine if tennis balls behave differently based on the weather and the length of time since the can of balls was opened. This means that the higher h. will differ from the height that the ball would have reached had it been dropped in a vacuum. 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. Working out the variation in results shows how accurate the experiment was. The Swiss like to get points over and done with in a short period of time. Decide on a height you want to drop the balls from . Try comparing a hot day to a cold day. Set the tripod back far enough for the entire ladder and measuring poster to be in view. Aim: to find out which surface bounces a ball the highest. solid. Also the ball flattening upon impact doesnt have to be taken into account whereas if one was measuring from the top of the ball as it hits the floor to the top of the ball before dropping it or at the top of its arc after bouncing or the middle of the ball as it hits the ground to the middle of the ball before dropping it or the middle of the ball at the top of its bounce then the fact that the ball flattens momentarily on impact with the floor would have to be taken into account. One way to do this is to put the ball in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. Push it against the measuring tape, careful to keep it at the same height. There is an activity at home that can be used to investigatebounciness. Now use your data table to plot points on the graph. were able to construct a successful experiment. This is impossible. The maximum height will have to be less than two meters as that is the maximum height that the equipment allows. Graph 1. In the 2018 US Open, the temperature on the court reached a high of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Use the measuring tape to measure 150 cm off the ground. What affects ball bounce? As there is more KE, more energy is converted into elastic potential energy, As there is more elastic potential energy, more energy is converted back into KE energy. The energy chain is as follows: Therefore as energy cannot be created or destroyed the energy the ball starts with must be directly proportional to the energy the ball finishes with, at the top of its bounce, and so if the ball starts with more energy it must therefore finish with more. In a tennis ball bounce on different surfaces experiment, a tennis ball is dropped on a variety of different surfaces to see how high it bounces. In this paper, the dynamics of a bouncing ball is described for several common ball types having different bounce characteristics. Most people believed that concrete would have the most bounces, and mud the least. This results in faster . Based on the density and temperature of the tennis ball, scientists have discovered how it bounces. This is why it h2will be from the bottom of the ball as it hits the floor to the bottom of the ball at the top of its arc after bouncing. The more particles per cubic meter, the more drag acting upon the ball. To determine how high a tennis ball will bounce when dropped from a . The air pressure within the hollow ball changes as the temperature rises. Aim: to find out which surface bounces a ball the highest. Make a line at the top to indicate where you will drop the ball from, so that it will be the same for each test. Then when dropping the ball again eye level was kept level with the blue tack. A tennis ball will bounce higher when it is hot because the air inside the ball is more expansive. This applies to a ball falling in a vacuum. discovered that there is a handful of information that would assist my partner and I The ball feels softer on the hand, but much harder on impact, resulting in a very different type of tennis. A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. For the most part, the document is a case study in compulsive precision. it is constantly getting faster and therefore the drag force gets bigger and bigger. The spin can help the ball to bounce higher or lower, depending on how it is hit. If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers: You can find this page online at: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Sports_p007/sports-science/ball-bouncing-dynamics. old and new tennis balls (different surface textures/ages). Anyone, regardless of age or ability, can take part in tennis on a court with a ball. It should be tall enough to hang up behind your ladder, about 5feet tall. in the execution of our experiment. You can even play tennis outside in any weather. Then when it bounces up, it returns to its original shape. Friday - 25/04/14 The surface onto which the ball is dropped will affect the height to which the ball bounces because for any two objects that collide, the properties of both determine the percentage of the kinetic energy either possesses approaching the collision that is conserved subsequent to the collision taking place (Coefficient to restitution) discounting the effects of air resistance. The material ball is made from will affect the ball as if it is smooth then the drag will be significantly less than if it is rough. = The distance between the bottom of the ball at the top of its arc after bouncing and the ground. Improvements that could be made to the experiment if future work was to be done: To provide additional relevant evidence I would conduct further work as follows; I would like to conduct the same experiment in a vacuum. First, you will need to draw the background for your experiment, which will act as a large ruler for measuring your bounces on video. We did this by bouncing different types of balls If we Which surface bounces a ball the highest? Tiles3. This was added onto another issue we had to STEP4 - Watch as the smaller ball flies off into the air! By conducting our experiment, we learnt that well-inflated rubber balls bounce the Copyright 2002-2023 Science Buddies. The effect of surface on the bounce height of a tennis ball. Determine how high the ball rebounds on its first bounce. Balls bounce differently on different axes. Write each measurement in the data table. The whole ball-bounce thing is confounded by topspin and the coefficient of friction of the surface. Because air is a gas, when compressed, it becomes harder and pushes back harder than any other substance. Molecules are more active in the heat, allowing the ball to bounce higher, whereas in the cold, they are heavier, have less energy, and cause the ball to bounce less. As the ball flattening upon impact with the floor is not visible as it happens so quickly it would be almost impossible to measure the size of the ball on impact with the floor. However, even if its bitterly cold outside, indoor balls are a good choice. Cold balls tend to have a bouncier texture. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission is strictly prohibited. Here's what you need to do this experiment: Bouncy Balls - a least 6 identical balls; A measuring cup or mug for heating water in the microwave; Access to a freezer . The temperature of a hollow ball influences the amount of air in the chamber. A hard surface, such as concrete, absorbs less energy compared with a soft surface, such as a carpeted floor.