Physics Coursework: Bouncing Balls.

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Andrew Webster 11T

Physics Coursework: Bouncing Balls

Introduction

In this investigation I am going investigate the factors which affect a bouncing ball and the relationship between the height the ball was dropped from and the height reached on the rebound. The height of the rebound will be less than the height the ball is dropped from due to the gravitational potential energy being converted into thermal energy.

Factors which will affect the bounce of a ball:

- Height dropped from

- Mass of ball

- ‘ Liveliness’ of ball

- Gravitational field strength (g)

- Floor hardness

Prediction

I predict that the ball will bounce to a height less than its original height due to gravitational potential energy being converted into thermal energy.

The ball gains gravitational potential energy when it is lifted off the floor, some off this energy is converted into heat energy due to friction and compression/expansion. I predict that if I increase the value of the input variable (i.e. the height the ball is dropped from) then the outcome variable will increase (i.e. the height of the bounce). Therefore I predict that the height the ball is dropped from is directly proportional to the height of the bounce.

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Preliminary Work

I experimented with three types of ball and three types of surfaces. A rubber ball, a golf ball and tennis ball on wooden, concrete and carpeted floors. I looked at several different aspects, how lively the ball was on that surface, the variation in bounce heights and ease of measurement. I dropped the ball from 1, 1.5 and 2 meters. The results were as follows.

Rubber Ball:

Golf Ball:

Tennis Ball:

I concluded from this that the best surface to use was that of concrete. This also shows ...

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