Different Balls Bouncing

Most recent answer: 09/15/2020

Q:
If I bounce a tennis ball and ping pong ball from the same height, then the ping pong ball will bounce more bounces, because of the difference in density. What is my independent variable, dependent variable, and what are three controlled variables?
- Arianna (age 12)
jacksonville,florida
A:

Why do you say that the density is the reason? There are lots of things different between the ping-pong and tennis balls, not just density. A feather if low density, but it won't bounce. 

I don't know much about he words that your teacher has asked you to use. The way I think of it is to try to think of ways in which the balls differ, an try to find other ways to pair them up to se what matters. So you could think of superbals, baseballs, marbles, and so on, to try to get a feel for what makes balls bounce more. Anther thing to think about is what surface the balls fall on. Does it matter if it's a rug, wood, linoleum,...?

Mike W.


(published on 09/15/2020)