Does a glass ball bounce higher than a rubber ball?

Asked by: Matthew Law

A glass ball bounces higher than a rubber ball of the same size, providing it does not break. Surprised? You can certainly test it out for yourself, using a marble and a small rubber ball! Further, a steel ball will also bounce higher than a rubber ball.

Why does a glass ball bounce higher than rubber?

Answer: In case of glass ball, it doesn’t deform much,since it is rigid and when it strikes a surface, most of the impact energy returns to the glass, causing it to bounce higher than the rubber ball.

Which ball will bounce higher?

Results: On average, the rubber bouncy ball will bounce the highest, followed by the ping pong ball. The marble will bounce the least high.

Which will bounce higher steel ball or rubber ball?

All things being equal, a hard solid rubber ball ( think superball) will bounce much higher than a steel or glass ball.

Why does a glass ball bounce?

In case of glass ball, it doesn’t deform much,since it is rigid and when it strikes a surface, most of the impact energy returns to the glass, causing it to bounce higher than the rubber ball.

How Does height affect the bounce of a ball?

If the drop height increases, then the resulting bounce height will also increase, because as the drop height increases, so does the gravitational potential energy which can be converted back into kinetic energy on the rebound.

Do heavier balls bounce higher?

Both balls will fall at a similar speed, but because kinetic energy is proportional to the mass of the object, the heavy ball reaches Earth with more energy. It will not necessarily rebound higher, as it also needs more kinetic energy to reach a specific height again.

How does a rubber ball bounce?

The force of the ball hitting the hard ground puts an equal force back onto the ball, meaning it bounces back up. This happens because balls are made out of an elastic material which allows them to be squashed or stretched and then return to their original shape.

Are rubber balls elastic?

Rubber balls are elastic because they return to their original shape. But rubber polymers can be formulated in different ways: if the polymers are tightly linked, they do not rub against each other much.

Why do marbles bounce?

Since they are both somewhat elastic, they want to go back to their original shapes, and generate forces to push them apart. This is similar to the repelling force you feel when you press a spring. As a result, the marble bounces back from the ceramic tile.

Do all balls bounce?

Speed is converted into spring energy then into motion again as the ball goes up for a ball not to bounce it needs to get rid of all of its energy the first time it hits the floor.

Why do balls bounce differently on different surfaces?

A hard surface, like concrete or hardwood, hardly absorbs any, so most of the kinetic energy of the fall goes into bouncing the ball back up. A soft surface, like grass or carpet, absorbs more energy from the fall, so there’s less left to push the ball back up, and it bounces pretty badly.