Importance Of Bouncing Ball

Benny Blackwell, Jackson Briscoe, Aleks Berkolds

Mr. Olson

Physics Period 2

19 March 2014

What Surface Is Best to Dribble or Bounce a Basketball?

When you drop a basketball, or any ball in general, it bounces back up. But how high does it bounce? If there is no other outside force acting on the ball such as a hand pushing down on the ball, the ball’s bounce will decrease each time it bounces until it eventually stops bouncing. The way the ball bounces is due to momentum and energy. Each time the ball bounces, it seems to lose energy because the height decreases by each bounce. However, the energy is not really lost, but rather transferred or changed. A bouncing ball has two main types of energy: kinetic and potential. Kinetic energy is the energy an object has due to its motion. Every moving object has kinetic energy. Potential energy is the energy stored in an object due to its position. The higher the object, the more potential energy it has. Each time the ball bounces, the ground absorbs some of its energy, which is why different surfaces cause the ball to bounce at different heights. Soft surfaces such as carpet absorb more energy than hard surfaces like concrete or wood. This causes the ball to bounce lower than when it is bounced on hard surfaces like concrete.

The higher an object is held, the more potential energy it has (if it is going to be dropped). When that object, such as the basketball, is dropped, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. The closer the ball gets to the ground, the more its potential energy decreases and its kinetic energy increases. The reason the ball does not bounce up all the way back to its original drop point is because when it hits the surface, some of its kinetic energy is “l...

... middle of paper ...

...t abrasions and scrapes. Also, concrete does not have that much traction, especially not as much as wood. Wood, as seen in our experiment, is hard enough to get the ball far off the ground, but is not too hard because if you fall it will not hurt as much as a harder surface. Hardwood floors offer good bounce, so there is less wear and tear on one’s legs and knees. Basketball obviously could not be played on a soft surface such as carpet because the ball will not get off the ground that much, and carpet does not have much traction, so people would slip everywhere!

In conclusion, the height of a ball’s bounce has a lot to do with the surface on which it is bouncing. The harder the surface, the less energy is absorbed from the ball, causing the ball to bounce higher. The softer the surface, the more energy is absorbed from the ball, causing the ball to bounce lower.