The Effect the Surface type has on Bouncy Ball's Bounce

Erica, Ryan, Sharanya

Section 8-5

Objective: Measure the return height of the bouncy ball, based on the surface it is dropped on.

Materials: Standard medium size solid rubber bouncy ball, Meter stick, 8 surface types, standard lab
table surface, 3-ply dinner size napkin, 2-ply bounty brand paper towel, 1-ply commercial grade
paper towel, gallon size plastic Ziploc baggie, 2-layered cardboard, 8.5x11 standard printer paper,
aluminum foil.

Surface Trial 1 Height Trial 2 Height Trial 3 Height Average Image

cm cm cm return height
cm

standard lab 31 32 30 31
table

3-ply dinner 20 24 25 23
size napkin

2-ply Bounty 29 28 26 27.67

brand paper
towel

Gallon size 31 32 29 30.67

plastic Ziploc
baggie
1-ply 30 32 30 30.67
commercial
grade paper
towel

2-ply 20 21 16 19
reinforced
cardboard

8.5x11 32 31 30 31
standard
printer paper

Standard 31 28 30 29.67
Grade
Aluminum foil

Videos
Prediction ~
1. 2-layered cardboard
2. gallon size plastic Ziploc baggie
3. 3-ply dinner size napkin
4. Aluminum foil
5. 2-ply bounty brand paper towel
6. 8.5x11 standard printer paper
7. 1-ply commercial grade paper towel
8. standard lab table

Suggested sentence starters for slideshow

1) Slide 1: Title of Lab + Names
2) Slide 2: Objective/ Goal of lab
3) Slide 3: Materials (Pictures+ Descriptive names of each)
4) Slide 4: Prediction (Greatest to Least)
5) Slide 5: Data Table (3 Trials and Average, Only Thing on Slide) explain how you collected the
data table DROPPED THE BALL FROM THE SAME HEIGHT EACH TIME, CENTER OF EACH
SURFACE
6) Slide 6: Giphy / results
7) Slide 7: Giphy / results
8) Slide 8: Prediction assessment, what was off, were you correct/ what was your result.
9) Slide 9: Side by Side comparison of the greatest return height and the lowest return height
(Qualitative + Quantitative Data)
10) Slide 10: How does the type of surface affect the bouncy ball’s bounce?
Terms to include ~ gravitational potential energy, rate of change 9.8 m/s​2​, air resistance,
mechanical energy, heat/ thermal energy
Script~
Slide 1 (all) = title and Names
Slide 2 (Erica) = Our objective as to measure the return height of the bouncy ball, based on
the surface it is dropped on.
Slide 3(Erica) = the materials that we used were Standard medium size solid rubber
bouncy ball
❖ Meter stick
❖ 8 surface types
➢ standard lab table
➢ 3-ply dinner size napkin
➢ 2-ply bounty brand paper towel
➢ 1-ply commercial grade paper towel
➢ gallon size plastic Ziploc baggie
➢ 2-layered cardboard
➢ 8.5x11 standard printer paper
➢ aluminum foil
Slide 4 (Erica) = our prediction for the return heights was from least to greatest height was
2-layered cardboard,gallon size plastic Ziploc baggie,3-ply dinner size napkin,Aluminum
foil,2-ply bounty brand paper towel,8.5x11 standard printer paper,1-ply commercial grade
paper towel,standard lab table.

SLide 5 (SD) = This is our data table where we recorded all of the different materials, the
the three different bounce back heights from each material, and the average bounce back
height of that material along with a picture of that given material.

Slide 6 (SD) = To keep our comparisons precise, we kept the gravitational potential energy
the same each time by dropping the bouncy ball from 50 cm. When falling, the bouncy ball
had a rate of acceleration of 9.8 m/s, the same rate as any object falling on earth.

Slide 7 (SD) The standard lab table had the greatest average bounce of 31 centimeters.
The paper tied the table for the greatest average bounce of 31 centimeters.
The gallon size plastic Ziploc baggie had the 3rd greatest average bounce of 30.67
centimeters. The commercial grade paper towels tied the bag for the 3rd greatest average
bounce of 30.67 centimeters.The aluminium foil had the 5th greatest average bounce of
29.67 centimeters.The Bounty paper towel had the 6th greatest average bounce of 27.67
centimeters.The napkin had the 7th greatest average bounce of 21 centimeters
The cardboard had the least average bounce of 19 centimeters.
Slide 8 (Ryan) = The results of our prediction were pretty good. We got 5 out of 8 surface
types in the correct order. We underestimated the bounce of the gallon size plastic Ziploc
baggie and the 8.5x11 standard printer paper, but we overestimated the bounce of the
2-ply bounty brand paper towel.
Slide 9 (Ryan) = Qualitative data is data showed by numbers rather than letters. That
makes quantitative data data showed by numbers. The 2-layered cardboard had the least
bounce average of 19 centimeters whereas the standard lab table had the greatest bounce
average of 31.
Slide 10 (Ryan) = Based on our results, we can conclude that the material the bouncy ball
bounces on can greatly affect the return of the given ball. The cardboard had the lowest
average return height and we can make a reasonable theory that this occurred because the
cardboard absorbed the energy from the bouncy ball. This was different from the lab table
as the table is very firm and hard, so the bouncy ball retained almost all of its energy which
let it have a relatively high bounce back. The reason the ball did not bounce back to the
height it was dropped from is because of thermal energy / air resistance which slowed the
ball down while it was falling.