Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Which surface do ping pong balls bounce higher on?? The surfaces are floorboards, carpet, tiles, grass and concrete. Can you please give me any info that will help with this expirement as well as your name and qualifications. Thank you!

This sounds like a great experiment. With a simple experiment you'll be able to get your answer. Make sure you control your environment. That is drop the ball from the same height, drop the same ball (or same type of ball), make sure there is no wind or other forces acting on the ball other than gravity, etc.

A general rule is that the ball will bounce not as high on a soft surface (i.e. grass, carpet). This is related to the law of conservation of energy. On a soft surface some of the energy from the ball will go into deforming the soft surface resulting in less energy for the bounce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy