Factors that Affect the Bounce of a Ball

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Factors that Affect the Bounce of a Ball

Introduction

There are many factors which will affect the bounce of a ball:

· The size and shape of the ball

· The material the ball is made from

· The surface it is bounced on

· The weight of the ball

For example, a ball dropped on sand would absorb more energy than a

ball dropped on a concrete floor.

Aim

To investigate the bounce of a ball.

Prediction

I predict that when you decrease the height you release the ball from,

the height the ball bounces back up to will remain the same. Therefore

the ball height will be reduced by the same amount.

Apparatus

· Tennis Ball

· Table tennis ball

· Metre Stick

· Clamp

· Clamp Stand

· Concrete floor

Plan

· I intend to change the height and measure the change in cm.

· I will use the apparatus listed above to measure and carry out my

investigation.

· I will change the height and measure the drop of the ball from at

least 5 heights to obtain decent averages for my graph results.

· I will repeat each measurement 3 times to obtain reliable data.

Diagram

Preliminary Work

Before doing the actual experiment, to prove my prediction I did some

preliminary work to which ball I should use to do the experiment with;

a tennis ball or a table tennis ball. I compared my results and chose

the ball that I found most reliable from the results.

TENNIS BALL

Release height (cm)

Attempt 1 (bounce back height in cm)

Attempt 2 (cm)

Attempt 3 (cm)

Average (cm)

200

98

98

97

98

180

89

88

91

89

160

79

83

81

81

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