EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

 

Purpose:

Does altitude affect the height of the bounce of a golf ball?

 

Hypothesis:

I think that the altitude will affect the bounce of a golf ball in

that the ball will bounce higher for each bounce the ball takes.

 

Materials:

1)one regulation size golf ball (diameter=1.86")

2)one 3' long clear acrylic tube

3)two acrylic disks

4)silicone sealer

5)vaccuum chamber

6)spigot

7)rubber grommets

8)plastic rod

 

Procedure:

First I went to a pipe supply store and bought a spigot. Next I

went to a store that sold plastics. There, I bought a 3' long piece of clear

acrylic tubing that is 3" in inner diameter. I sealed one end (eventually the

bottom end) of the tube with a disk that has the same inner and outer

diameter and is made of the same material. The outer diameter is the

length of the tube from one outside end to the other outside end. The inner

diameter is the diameter from one inside end of the width of the plastic to

the other inside end. I also made 2 different holes on the disk that would

eventually be the top. One hole is made for the blunt end of the spigot. The

other hole is made slightly larger than the plastic rod. The plastic rod

should be able to spin around comfortably in the hole. On the side of the

hole that would not be inside the tube, I glued on the rubber grommet.

This would be the place where the plastic rod would be placed. Then I cut

a small piece of acrylic and glued it on to the rod. This would be the

platform where the ball would stay before being put in motion. After this,

I took a ruler and marked the side of the tubing with centimeters all the

way to the top. This would be to see how high off the ground the ball

bounced after each try. Next, I attached the spigot to the hose of the

vaccuum chamber. After the air had been sucked out, I released the ball

from the platform. Then I measured the first two bounces that the ball had.

The reason I only measured the first two bounces is because on a few of

the tries, there was no third bounce.