how and why temperature affects the bounce of a squash ball

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Introduction

I am going to perform an experiment to find out how and why temperature affects the bounce of a squash ball. To achieve this I will heat up a squash ball to certain temperatures and then bounce them from a given height. I will also scientific theories to back up any conclusions I make. I have excluded my plan for this piece of coursework, as it isn’t necessary. It can be supplied if requested.

Plan  

Method:

        Six hot water baths will set up around the laboratory upon the benches. Their temperature gauges will be set to six specific temperatures. To make sure that the temperature of the baths is correct thermometers will be placed in them.

One squash ball will be used for the whole experiment. The ball will be placed into the baths, one at a time. To keep the ball under the water it will be placed inside a metal test tube holder. It will then be left for ten minutes to ensure that the ball is heated throughout.

Then, taking great care, the ball will be removed from the water, using tongs to grab the test tube holder, and hands to remove the ball from the test tube rack. The ball is then taken to another wooden bench where the teammate will be holding a metre long rule, vertically and at right angles to the bench. The bounces are then conducted, three times for three heights. The person reading the results will be roughly parallel to where the ball bounces too.  

        The temperatures being used are (in 0C); 30; 40; 50; 60; 80; 90. The heights I will be dropping the ball from are 20cm; 40cm; 60cm.

Fair Test:

          To ensure that my experiment is as fair as possible and other variables are fixed I will; 1) use the same ball throughout; 2) ensure the bounce surface is flat, smooth and as hard as possible; 3) use the same observer to measure the bounce height of the ball; 4) leave the ball to heat up for the same amount of time for all the temperatures; 5) release the ball from a stationary hand; 6) measure the height achieved by the top of the ball.

Apparatus:

             Six hot water baths

             A test tube holder

             One blue squash ball

             A metre long rule

             A pair of tongs  

            A thermometer

Prediction:

             I think that the bounce height of the ball will increase with temperature increase.

        For something to bounce with maximum efficiency it must lose as little energy as possible during its collision with the surface. Energy will be lost during the balls collision with the surface. This can happen if the balls kinetic energy were transformed into another form during the collision.

        When the ball is warmed up the pressure of the air inside and the suppleness of the ball increase. This is because the molecules have more energy; due to this the air molecules collide more often and with more force on the internal side of the ball and the rubber molecules vibrate more rapidly, stretching the bonds that hold them in place (kinetic theory of matter). This makes the interior of the ball firmer and less easy to squash but the exterior of the ball becomes softer.

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        With this higher internal pressure the ball won’t deform as much as it normally would when it hits the surface and it will also recover its original shape faster. If only a small amount of deformation occurs then only a small amount of energy will be wasted on changing the shape. Also, if the ball has more energy, then it will recover it’s shape faster thus pushing itself of the ground with greater force.

Safety:

        To prevent injury from the hot water in the baths I will ensure care is taken to keep them well away from the ...

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