Names: Soumil, Dylan, Amelia 

The Effect the Surface has on a Bouncy 

Ball’s Bounce 
 
 
Essential Question:  
 
Objective: To determine what affects the type of surface a bouncy ball bounces has on its 
response height 
 
Prediction: The printer paper will provide the greatest response height 
 
Different Types of Surfaces- 
● Cardboard 
● Tin foil 
● Plastic baggie 
● Three ply dinner napkin 
● One ply commercial eco-friendly cheap non-absorbent school paper recyclable 
brown towel 
● Two ply white Bounty™ paper towel 
● Single sheet of printer paper (8.5 by 11) standard copy paper 
● Scientific Low-top Table - Control 
● Wooden mildly beat up meter stick 
● Standard medium sized rubber multi-colored bouncy ball 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Surface   Prediction  1​st​ try (cm)  2​nd try
​
(cm)  3​rd try
​
(cm)  Averages 
(cm) 

Table  30  40  35  31  35.3(3) 

Cardboard  10  21  23  20  21.3(3) 

Ziploc baggie  30  40  42  41  41 

One ply  35  40  41  41  40.6(6) 

commercial 
eco-friendly 
cheap 
non-absorbent 
school paper 
recyclable 
brown towel 

Two-ply white  30  35  37  38  36.6(6) 

Bounty™ paper 
towel 
 

Printer paper  40  42  41  43  42 

Three-ply dinner  30  40  40  41  40.3(3) 

napkin  
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES 
Aluminum Foil  40  40  41  37  39.3(3) 

 
NARRATIVE SCRIPT: 
The title of this lab is… by Amelia, Dylan, and Soumil 
The Goal or objective of this lab was to to determine what affects the type of surface a 
bouncy ball bounces has on its response height. 
 
Materials we were provided with... 
Our group predicted…. Greatest/Least 
In our data table we conducted the measurements… 
 
 
 
 
Actual Script:  
Dylan​: The title of this lab is The Effect the surface has on a Bouncy Ball’s bounce by Amelia,
Dylan, and Soumil

Soumil​: Our objective for this lab was to determine what affects the type of surface a bouncy
ball has on its response height

Amelia​: Our group used

- Cardboard 
● Tin foil 
● Plastic baggie 
● Three ply dinner napkin 
● One ply commercial eco-friendly cheap non-absorbent school paper recyclable 
brown towel 
● Two ply white Bounty™ paper towel 
● Single sheet of printer paper (8.5 by 11) standard copy paper 
● Scientific Low-top Table - Control 
● Wooden mildly beat up meter stick 
● Standard medium sized rubber multi-colored bouncy ball 
for this lab.  

Dylan​: Our group predicted that the cardboard would provide the least return height for the
bouncy ball at 10 cm. We also predicted that the printer paper and the aluminum foil would
provide the greatest return height at 40 cm each.

Amelia​:From our tests we found that the cardboard provides the least return height

Dylan​:Our tests also found that the printer paper provided the greatest return height

Soumil​: As shown by the data table, our predictions were were usually from 5-10 cm off… The
printer paper had the greatest return according to the quantitative data and cardboard had the
least return. When we dropped the ball from our chosen height the ball had gravitational
potential energy. When it hit the surface it changed that energy into mechanical kinetic energy
which propels the ball back up.

Amelia​: These videos show the three tests with the bouncy ball on the aluminum foil.

Amelia​: These videos show the three tests with the bouncy ball on the dinner na

Dylan​: These videos show the three tests using the l ply commercial paper as the surface.

Dylan​: These videos show the three tests using the cardboard as the surface.
Soumil​: These videos show the three tests using the Bounty​TM​ paper towel as the surface.

Soumil​: These videos show the three tests using the printer paper as the surface.

Soumil​: These videos show the three tests using the plastic baggie as the surface.

Amelia​; These videos show the three trials with the table as the surface.

Soumil​: Our prediction was proven correct as we predicted correctly that the printer paper would
perform best and the cardboard would perform worst but we were incorrect about the aluminum
foil tying with the printer paper, as the foil appeared to cause friction before the bounce.

Amelia​: In the gif that includes the printer paper the ball returns higher, than when bounced on
other surfaces. This is confirmed by our data table with the printer paper providing the greatest
return. In the gif that includes the cardboard, you can clearly see that the ball returns the least
out of all of the surfaces. This is confirmed by our data table, which recorded the cardboard as
providing the least return height.

Dylan:​The return height was different because of different amount of friction and
thickness, impacting the ball’s bounce.

Soumil:​The least return height material was cardboard. The cardboard absorbed some of
the kinetic energy of the bouncy ball when the ball hit it due to the air and the ball slowed
due to the friction of scratching against the slightly gritty surface of the cardboard.

Amelia:​The most return height came from the printer paper, because the printer paper
was only millimeters thick, resulting in little to no kinetic energy absorbed, and the
friction was minimal because the ball was hitting the paper for a short amount of time
and the bounce on the printer paper was basically the same as a bounce on the control,
the table.

Dylan: ​The harder the surface the less energy it absorbs, so the more energy the bouncy
ball has.