Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Can a gas affect a balls bounce?

Hi samuria,

Are you working on a project similar to the one described at the following link?

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... cs#summary

In this project you change the air pressure in a ball and observe how the bounce is affected. And in this case a gas (air) does have an effect on a ball's bounce.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Hi A. Norman,
Thank you for answering my question. My experiment is that I took a soccer ball and filled it with helium and then deflated it and then pumped it back up with air. Then I dropped the ball off of 12.9 feet and measured the time of the bounce. I drop the ball 3 times. Three times with air and three times with helium.

Hi samuria,

OK. Thanks for the additional information.

You compared how long a ball will bounce with the same pressure of helium and with air. Did you see any differences in how long the ball bounced with the two gasses?

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Yes I put the same pressure of air and helium in the ball. I did not see much of a difference in the ball.

Hi samuria,

I don't think you should see much difference in how many times (or how high) the ball bounced due to the different gases inside.

The ideal gas law tells us that at the same pressure, volume and temperature there are the same number of gas molecules regardless of the type of gas. Helium is lighter than air so the ball filled with helium doesn't weigh as much. But the weight difference is small compared to the weight of the ball itself. So you'd expect very little difference in how the ball bounces.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Thank you so much really appreciate it