Investigate one of the factors that affects how high a ball bounces

Anna Hoyes 11P

Investigate one of the factors that affects how high a ball bounces.

Aim:

To carry out an experiment to determine whether the height of which a ball is dropped determines how high a ball bounces.

Prediction:

I predict that the greater the height from which the ball is dropped the higher the ball will bounce. This is because the ball gains more energy as it is dropped and therefore if it is dropped from a greater height it will have gained more energy- and that means the force with which it hits the ground will be greater so it bounces higher. Before the ball is released it will have potential energy- the potential to have energy or a force eg being dropped- and this energy is turned into kinetic energy- or, movement- when the ball is dropped. This means that the ball will have a greater amount of potential energy and therefore the greater the height the greater amount of kinetic energy when dropped- leading to a greater force when hitting the surface and therefore bouncing higher. As the ball descends it gains more speed and so the ball bounces with bigger force- therefore enabling it to bounce higher.

Key Factors:

There are other various factors that may also affect how high a ball bounces. These factors will have to remain constant so the investigation will be kept fair:

Surface
Weight
Ball type
Height dropped
Speed of release

Apparatus:

Ball
Meter ruler

Preliminary results:

I found the minimum result I could have was 25cm as anything below became too fast and therefore too difficult to measure. The maximum result I found was 125 cm as anything above became too hard too measure as the ball strayed from the ruler.

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