The Bouncing Ball Experiment

The Bouncing Ball Experiment

The Question- Which of the balls are going to bounce the highest?

 The Research-

Properties

Rubber is not only elastic, but is also waterproof and is a good electrical insulator. Natural rubber is resilient and is resistant to tearing. Some types of rubber are resistant to oils, solvents, and other chemicals.

In a raw state, natural and synthetic rubber become sticky when hot and brittle when cold. The vulcanization process modifies rubber so that these changes will not occur. In the typical vulcanization process, sulfur and certain other substances are added to raw rubber and the mixture is then heated. The process tends to increase rubber's elasticity and its resistance to heat, cold, abrasion, and oxidation. It also makes rubber relatively airtight and resistant to deterioration by sunlight.

The molecules that make up rubber are long, coiled, and twisted. They are elongated by a stretching force and tend to resume their original shape when the force is removed, giving rubber the property of elasticity. Vulcanization sets up chemical linkages between the molecules, improving rubber's ability to return to its original shape after it is stretched.

Uses

Rubber is made into articles as diverse as raincoats and sponges, bowling balls and pillows, electrical insulation and erasers. People ride on rubber tires and walk on rubber heels. Rubber is also used in toys, balls, rafts, elastic bandages, adhesives, paints, hoses, and a multitude of other products.

The single most important use of rubber is for tires. Most tires contain several kinds of rubber, both natural and synthetic. Radial automobile tires contain a greater percentage of natural rubber than other types of automobile tires because radial tires have flexible sidewalls that tend to produce a buildup of heat, to which natural rubber has a superior resistance. Either natural or synthetic rubber is suitable for most uses, and price determines which is used.

Baseball: Heavy, round, hard, and the biggest.

Tennis ball: Fuzzy, medium sized, and round.

Green ball: Small, not round and foam.

Pink ball: Rubber, small, round, and light.

Yellow ball: Plastic, holes, hollow, and medium sized.

The Hypothesis-

I think the tennis ball will go the highest and the baseball will go the lowest.

The Experiment-

In our experiment we bounced every ball from the same distance and using a ruler we measured how high it went.  We bounced each ball three times then recorded the results.  After we finished we did it all again but on a desk instead of the carpet.  We found the average of each ball so it would be easier to find which ball bounced the highest.

Variable- A variable is a condition(s) that a project has.  There are two important variables: an independent variable or a dependant variable.  An independent variable is a variable that you can change (example: you can change how much water a plant gets by giving it more or less water).  A dependent variable is a variable that you cannot change but you can observe it and record the results (example: you can’t change how much a plant grows but you can measure and observe it)

Desk Graph 






Carpet Graph









The Observation-
The lighter balls bounced higher except for the Green ball because of its odd shape.  The information could be wrong if we didn’t drop it from the right height or we accidentally hit the desk.

The Conclusion-
Our Hypothesis was half right.  The tennis ball did bounce the highest on the carpet but on the desk the Pink ball bounced the highest.  THis shows that an independent variable can change everything.