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Physics -- PSI and Basketball Bounce Height

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 5:11 pm
by Salvador30
My project is about how the PSI in a basketball affects the bounce.

What is PSI?

What is the recommended PSI for a basketball?

What happens if a basketball does not have enough air?

What happens if a basketball has too much air?

Why is it important to keep PSI in the recommended range?

How could you test how PSI affects bounce height?

What variables should stay the same during the experiment?

Why should you repeat the experiment several times?

How could this information help real basketball players?


Moderator note: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... g-dynamics

Re: Physics -- PSI and Basketball Bounce Height

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2026 1:54 pm
by amyCC
Hi - Many of these questions are ones that you will need to answer by doing some research on your topic.

Are you using one of the projects from Science Buddies? Or are you writing your own experiment?

This is a project you might want to look at:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... g-dynamics

But there are others about dribbling that might be of interest, like this one:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... all-energy

If you can let us know more specifically what project you are doing, someone can help answer specific questions. But for general questions like "recommended PSI," you will want to spend time doing some research.

If you are trying to design your own project, then reply focusing specifically on what question you want to explore and how you think you might be able to test that question.

Amy
Science Buddies