Athena, Maya, Erica, Rohan

The Effect That the Type of Surface has on a Bouncy

Ball’s Return Height

Objective: To measure and compare the differences between the return heights of a bouncy ball
on different types of surfaces and to understand how a bouncy ball responds to certain
surfaces.

Materials:

-Medium-sized solid rubber bouncy ball

-Meterstick
-8 types of surfaces
-3–ply dinner napkin
-2–ply Bounty paper towel
-1–ply commercial grade paper towel
-Gallon sized Ziploc baggie
-8.5x11 standard printer paper
-2–ply reinforced cardboard
-Standard aluminum foil
-Lab table

Prediction: Which surface is going to result in the greatest return height and the least return
height?
We believe that bouncing the ball on the standard aluminum foil will result in the greatest
return height, and that bouncing the ball on the 2–ply Bounty paper towel will result in the least
return height.
Standard Aluminum Foil
8.5 x11 Standard Printer Paper
3–Ply Dinner Napkin
1–Ply Commercial Grade Paper Towel
Lab Table
Gallon—Sized Ziploc Baggie
2–Ply Reinforced Cardboard
2–Ply Bounty Paper Towel

Results:
-2–ply reinforced cardboard
-Standard aluminum foil
-2–ply Bounty paper towel
-8.5 x11 standard printer paper
-3–ply dinner napkin
-Gallon sized Ziploc baggie
-1–ply commercial-grade paper towel
-Lab table

Answer: Bouncing the ball on which surface resulted in the highest return height and the lowest
return height?

Type of Surface: Return Height Return Height Return Height Average Return
Attempt 1 (cm) Attempt 2 (cm) Attempt 3 (cm) Height (cm)

2–Ply 13 10 14 12.34
Reinforced
Cardboard

Standard 15 15 16 15.34
Aluminum Foil

2–Ply Bounty 27 22 23 24
Paper Towel

8.5 x11 27 25 26 26
Standard Printer
 Paper

3–Ply Dinner 30 25 28 27.67

Napkin

Gallon Sized 30 34 29 31
Ziploc Baggie

1–Ply 32 30 32 31.34
Commercial
Grade Paper
Towel

Lab Table 34 36 31 33.67

Bouncing the ball of the lab table resulted in the greatest average return height. Bouncing the
ball off of the 2–ply reinforced paper towel resulted in the least average return height.

(Layout on page 4)
Google Slides layout and suggested sentence starters:

Slide 1: Title, first names

Slide 2: Objective

Slide 3: List of materials (picture and description)

Slide 4: Prediction

Slide 5: Photo of data table

Slide 6/7: Videos

GIF of the lab table and 2–ply reinforced cardboard

Script:
Slide 1: Athena
The title of our experiment is The Effect That the Type of Surface has on a Bouncy Ball’s Return
Height.

Slide 2: Rohan
Our objective for this lab was to measure and compare the differences between the return
heights of a bouncy ball on different surfaces and to understand how a bouncy ball responds to
different surfaces.

Slide 3: Erica
The materials we were provided with were a meter stick, a medium-sized solid rubber bouncy
ball, one sheet of standard aluminum foil, one sheet of 8.5 by 11 standard printer paper, our lab
table, one 1–Ply commercial grade paper towel, one gallon-sized Ziploc baggie, one piece of 2–
ply reinforced cardboard, one 3–ply dinner napkin, and one 2–ply Bounty paper towel.

Slide 4: Maya
Our group predicted that bouncing the ball off of the 2–ply Bounty paper towel would result in
the lowest return height. We also predicted that bouncing the ball off of the standard aluminum
foil would result in the highest return height.

Slide 5: Athena
As shown in the data table, each material we used affected the ball differently.

Slide 6: Rohan
Bouncing the ball off of the lab table resulted in the greatest return height, which was 33.67
centimeters. During the first attempt, it bounced to 34 cm, and during the second, it bounced to
36 cm. The ball bounced to 31 cm during the third attempt.

Slide 7: Erica
Bouncing the ball off of the 2-ply reinforced cardboard resulted in the lowest return height. The
average return height for this bounce was 12.34 CM. The first attempt was 13 cm, and on the
second 10 cm. The ball bounced to 14 cm during the third attempt.

Slide 8: Maya
Our prediction was not entirely accurate, but for the most part, we were able to predict the order
of the average heights that the ball bounced. We correctly predicted that the 3–Ply dinner
napkin and 1–Ply commercial grade paper towel would have lower return heights, and that the
2–Ply reinforced cardboard and 2–Ply Bounty paper towel would have higher return heights.

Slide 9: Athena
In comparing both the qualitative data and the quantitative data, we can see that the results of
bouncing the ball off of the lab table are definitely higher than the results of bouncing the ball off
of the 2-ply reinforced cardboard

Slide 10: Rohan

Gravitational potential energy, the energy you give the ball when you’re about to drop it,
converts to kinetic energy, or more specifically mechanical energy. Also, when the ball is
dropped onto the table, the movement between the ball and the table cause friction, or thermal
energy. The ball cannot return to its original height because some of the gravitational potential
energy has been converted.