Great question! If a ball were perfectly elastic, and if here was no
air resistance or other ways of losing energy, then a it should bounce
back to the same height that you dropped it from no matter how big it
is. Reality is a bit more complicated, of course. For example:
If you are comparing a big ball and a little ball that have the
same mass, air resistance will slow the big one down more than the
small one because the big ball has more surface area for the air to be
rubbing against. This makes it seem like the small ball should bounce
higher.
If you are comparing a big ball and a little ball that are solid
and are made of the same material, then air resistance will slow the
big one down LESS than the small one because the big ball is so much
heavier than the small one. This makes it seem like the big ball should
bounce higher.
As you see, its hard to predict exactly what will happen unless you specify exactly what the balls are like.
-Tamara
(published on 10/22/2007)
