Y7 Topic 4: Energy

Investigating Bouncing Balls

Jessica Hu & Florance Wu

Beforehand Thinking & Research

Before conducting and planning the experiment, I have made a table showing
the three ideas I came up with for examining a balls movement energy:

Experiment Independent Dependant Variable Constant Variable
Variable

1. Height of where How long it takes for Type of ball dropped.

the ball is dropped. the ball to stop
bouncing.

2. Type of ball Height of 1st bounce The height where the

dropped. of the ball. ball i s dropped.

3. What material the Height of 1st bounce The height where the
ball is dropped on. of the ball ball i s dropped.

After a lot of discussion, me and my partner have chosen to carry out the
first experiment, we have also chosen to use a medium sized sponge ball.

We have also researched some information about the science of a bouncing

ball, which is listed below:

When I pick up a ball off the floor and hold it in our hands the energy I used
to pick up the ball transfers into the ball.
When I let go of the ball, the ball receives kinetic energy to move.
When the ball hits the ground, the potential energy is changed to kinetic
energy, which makes it bounce back up. This gives it gravitational energy.
When the ball rises, it has kinetic energy. This energy is converted back to
potential energy.
 The ball does not rise as high as where we first bounced it because some of
the energy is taken away by the friction (when it bounces against the floor)
and the bouncing sound the ball makes.
A ball bouncing would follow Newtons laws of gravity and force.
The graph that we can use from Data Studio can tell us that the ball is
falling if the line that shows this is rising, and if the ball is rising if the line is
going downhill.

Experiment Planning

Aim: The aim of this experiment is to see if the height of something dropped (in
this case a ball) effects how long it takes for the ball to stop bouncing.

Hypothesis: I think that the height where the object is dropped does matter
because it gains more kinetic energy the longer it drops because of the gravitational
energy.

Variables:
Independent: Height of where the ball is dropped
Dependent: How long it takes for the ball to stop bouncing.
Constant: The type of ball used. ( sponge ball )

Equipment:
Motion Sensor
Computer
Retort Stand
Metal Bar ( for Holding the Motion Sensor )
Measuring Stick
Sponge Ball
Two Boundaries to Confine the Bounce ( in This Case we used Computer
Cases )

Method:
1. Put the retort stand on the experiment area, and fasten the metal bar.
 2. Put the motion sensor on the metal bar, and connect it to your computer.
3. Hold t he sponge ball at the bottom of the motion sensor, the bottom of the
ball should be at the height you want to drop it at, for more precise results,
use the measuring stick to measure the height you want to drop the ball at.
4. Hold up the two objects your are using as your boundaries at both sides of
the retort stand.
5. Open Data Studio on your computer, and press the create experiment
button.
6. Drop the ball from your first height.
7. As soon as you drop the ball, start the motion sensor on your computer.
8. Keep recording the information until the ball stops bouncing.
9. Do this 3 times to get an average, and write up your results on your
computer.
10. Do the same thing 3 times with different heights.

Results & Data

Below is our results that we have collected when conducting our experiment:

Height of where Height of 1st Time Taken for Average

ball is dropped bounce of ball the Ball to Stop
Bouncing
45cm / 0.45m 1st Try: 18 cm 1st Try: 1.45 secs Time: 1.35 secs
2nd Try: 21 cm 2nd Try: 1.5 secs Height: 1 8 cm
3rd Try: 14 cm 3rd Try: 1.1 secs

25cm / 0.25m 1st Try: 10.5 cm 1st Try: 1.8 secs Time: 1.48 secs
2nd Try: 8.5 cm 2nd Try: 1.25 Height: 7 cm
3rd Try: 1 cm secs
3rd Try: 1.4 secs

15cm /0.15m 1st Try: 12.4 cm 1st Try: 0.6 secs Time: 0.6 secs
2nd Try: 12.7 cm 2nd T
ry: 0.5 secs Height: 12.5 cm
3rd Try: 12.3 cm 3rd Try: 0.7 secs
Graph 1: (45 cm)

Purple - First Try.
Orange - Second Try.
Brown - Third Try


Graph 2: (25 cm)

Purple - First Try.
Dark Green - Second Try.
Blue - Third Try

Graph 3: (15cm)

Pink- First Try.
Dark Green -
Second Try.
Light Green -
Third Try

(The pink line and
the light green
line were very
similar at the
beginning. The
starting part of
the green line is
hidden under the pink.)

Evaluation and Conclusion

The results of this experiment proved my hypothesis correct, the height where
the object is dropped does affect how long it takes to finish bouncing. I believe that
our experiment has been successful except there was still areas we found difficult,
such as getting Data Studio able to get a decent result of the bounce, and getting
an accurate result. When redoing to experiment, I would like to make our result
times more accurate, especially on the 45cm drops, I will do this by not rushing our
experiment, as me and Florance did when conducting this experiment.