Tennis Ball Investigation :: Papers

Tennis Ball Investigation Aim: Investigate the factors that affect the bounce of a tennis ball. Key factors (variables): 1) Height of drop 2) Surface of bounce 3) Gravitational pull 4) Room temperature/ball temperature 5) Weight of ball 6) Material of ball 7) Brand of ball 8) Age/wear of ball 9) Size of ball 10) Force of drop/push How the key factors will affect the bounce: 1) The higher the drop the higher the bounce 2) The harder the surface the higher the bounce 3) The weaker the gravitational force the higher the bounce 4) The warmer the ball the higher the bounce 5) The lighter the ball the higher the bounce 6) Discontinual-unknown 7) Discontinual-unknown 8) The newer the ball the higher the bounce 9) The smaller the ball the higher the bounce 10) The more force put into the drop/push the higher the bounce I have chosen to investigate 1) Height of drop. Prediction ========== [IMAGE] I believe that the higher the height the ball is dropped from the higher the bounce, because when the ball is lifted the higher it is lifted the more energy is needed to lift it. Therefore more energy is converted from chemical potential energy in the body, to kinetic energy when the ball is being lifted, to gravitational potential energy (G.P.E) when the ball has been lifted to the height of the drop. The more G.P.E the ball has a the start of the drop (point A), the more energy is converted to kinetic energy while the ball is dropping and then to elastic potential energy (E.P.E) while it is static on the floor (point B). At this point the ball looses a percentage of its energy to sound and heating the floor. I know that it is a percentage of its energy that it looses rather than a fixed amount because I know that the more energy the ball has the louder the