Problem:
Which of the following balls has the highest elasticity: a rubber ball, a marble, or a ping pong ball?
Materials
Wooden board (a cutting board or a piece of scrap plywood will work great)
Yardstick, meter stick or tape measure with centimeters
Rubber bouncy ball
Marble
Ping pong ball
Table or wall
Tape
Procedure
Set the wooden board flat on the ground next to a wall or table.
Tape the meter stick to the wall or table as shown. Make sure that the meter stick starts with 0 is at the bottom. Before conducting this experiment, use this time to formulate your hypothesis. Which ball do you think will bounce the highest? Why?
Bouncing Ball Physics Setup Diagram
Have a partner drop the rubber ball from the 25 centimeter mark and record the height of the first bounce in a table like the one below. Repeat 5 times and record bounce height for each of your 5 trials. It’s important to drop the ball and not throw it downward. Why do you think this is?