First Experiment For The Year

Tennis Ball Drop

Aim: To investigate the relation between the height a ball is dropped from and the height of the first bounce

Hypothesis: If I drop the ball from around a metre, it will bounce around 75 to 80cm so around 75 to 80%

Equipment:
Metre Ruler
Tennis ball (or another kind of ball that works)
Clamp stand
Boss head and clamp

Method:
1. Set up the clamp stand to hold the ruler
2. Drop the ball at a certain height and drop it.
3. Record how high it bounces.
4. Repeat with different heights.

Variables: 
Control variables - The ball, the person dropping it, the equipment
Independent variables - The height the ball is dropped from.

Dependent variables - The height the ball bounces

Results:

Drop height	Bounce height
50 cm	25 cm
60 cm	31 cm
70 cm	38 cm
90 cm	45 cm
1 m	51 cm
2 m	87 cm
3m	99 cm

50 cm Drop Height:

Discussion:

During the experiment, we dropped the ball from each height twice, then recorded the second height. We found that the second height was usually more accurate than the first, though they were similar numbers.

Conclusion:

My hypothesis was incorrect. I originally thought the ball would bounce around 70 to 80 percent of the drop height. It seems that the bounce height was more around 50 or 60 percent of the drop height.