The combination of the material properties of a ball (surface textures, actual materials, amount of air, hardness/ softness, and so on) affects the height of its bounce.
What are some factors that could affect the ball’s bounce Why might a ball bounce higher or lower than the regulated height?
- The height from which we drop the ball.
- The air pressure inside the ball.
- Hardness of the bounce surface.
How does the drop height of a ball affect the bounce height?
If the drop height increases , then the resulting bounce height will also increase, because as the drop height increases, so does the gravitational potential energy which can be converted back into kinetic energy on the rebound.
How does the size of a ball affect how high it bounces?
The air friction is approximately proportional to the square of the radius at high speeds, and to the radius at low speeds. So for bigger balls the ratio of gravitational to frictional force goes up , compared to small balls. That would tend to make the large balls bounce higher.
What force causes a ball to bounce?
When you drop a ball, gravity pulls it toward the floor. The ball gains energy of motion, known as kinetic energy. When the ball hits the floor and stops, that energy has to go somewhere. The energy goes into deforming the ball–from its original round shape to a squashed shape.
Does mass affect bounce height?
If the mass of the ball increases than the height the ball bounces will increase because the more mass an object has the more energy that gets build up when the ball gets released and makes the ball go higher.
Which ball bounces higher when dropped together?
When all three balls are dropped from the same height, the rubber ball will bounce the highest because it has the greatest elasticity. When the rubber ball hits the ground it gets compressed, or squished, and because it is very elastic, it quickly returns to its original shape.
Why does the height of a bouncing ball decreases?
Since the height to which the ball will bounce is directly proportional to its energy (barring effects of air friction), with a coefficient of restitution of less than one the ball will bounce less and less high.
Why does a ball not bounce back to its original height?
The reason it doesn’t bounce higher than where it started is simple: some of the ball’s energy is lost as heat when it bounces , so it doesn’t have as much going up as it did coming down. Knowing that, you might figure that a ball could never bounce higher than the height from which is was dropped.
Why do balls bounce higher on concrete?
As the ball is released, gravity pulls the ball downwards and transforms that potential energy into kinetic energy , the energy of motion. The harder the court surface is the more energy a dropped ball retains and the higher it rebounds.
Do heavier objects bounce more?
A well-inflated ball bounces better because it has more air inside. ... Both balls fall at the same speed but the heavier ball gains more energy during the fall . When the lighter ball bounces on the heavy ball they exchange energy, and the lighter ball flies off with some of the energy of a heavier ball.
Does mass or size matter in bounce height?
The size of the ball can affect its bounce due to air resistance, surface volume and density. However, mass can also play a part in how a ball bounces . If two balls contain the same mass, but are of different sizes, the larger ball will bounce less due to greater air friction against its surface.
How many times does a ball bounce?
In an idealized situation with a fixed coefficient of restitution between 0 and 1, a ball bounces an infinite number of times in a finite amount of time and travels a finite abount of total distance, with the frequency of bounces approaching infinity as the time approaches the limit of time based on the initial ...
Why does a ball eventually stop rolling?
Friction – as the ball rolls, the ball loses its energy to heat and sound. As the energy is lost, the ball slows down and eventually stops. ... A rolling ball stops because of friction.” ScienceLine.
Where does the lost energy go when a ball bounces?
As the ball falls, that energy is converted to kinetic energy . When the ball collides with the floor, some of this kinetic energy is transferred to the floor and converted to thermal energy (friction) and elastic potential energy (ball deformation.)
Do two balls of different masses bounce different heights?
And since the pavement is not supposed to move, the ball is then moving upwards with the same speed, despite several balls may have different masses. So, your two balls will bounce to the same height , as equations of motion tell us.
