Passage
Students studied what affects how high a ball bounces. In each trial they released a ball from a measured height, let it fall and bounce once, and measured the height of that first bounce in centimeters (cm).
Experiment 1: Using the same rubber ball and the same hard floor, the students dropped the ball from different heights and measured the bounce height (Table 1).
| Drop height (cm) | Bounce height (cm) |
|---|
| 20 | 12 |
| 40 | 24 |
| 60 | 36 |
| 80 | 48 |
| 100 | 60 |
Experiment 2: Dropping each ball from a height of 100 cm onto the same hard floor, the students tested different types of ball and measured the bounce height (Table 2).
| Type of ball | Bounce height (cm) |
|---|
| Rubber | 60 |
| Tennis | 45 |
| Plastic | 30 |
| Foam | 12 |
Experiment 3: Dropping the same rubber ball from a height of 100 cm, the students changed the surface it landed on and measured the bounce height (Table 3).
| Landing surface | Bounce height (cm) |
|---|
| Hard floor | 60 |
| Thin carpet | 40 |
| Thick carpet | 22 |
| Sand | 6 |
In every trial the ball was released without being pushed, and the bounce height was measured from the same reference point.
