Bouncing Balls
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flagWhat you'll discover
- arrow_forwardShow that gravity pulls dropped balls down and makes them fall faster and faster
- arrow_forwardExplain why each bounce is a little lower than the one before
- arrow_forwardCompare how balls fall on Earth, the Moon and Jupiter
- arrow_forwardUse the bounciness slider to change how much energy a ball keeps
Gravity never takes a break
Drop a ball and gravity pulls it down, making it move faster and faster until — boing! — it hits the ground. Gravity does not switch off after the bounce either: it slows the ball on the way up, stops it for a tiny moment, then pulls it back down again.
Tap anywhere in the simulation to drop a ball right where you touch, and watch gravity do its work.
Why bounces get smaller
Have you noticed a ball never bounces back quite as high as where it started? With every bounce, some of its movement energy turns into sound (the boing you hear!) and a tiny bit of heat in the squashed ball and floor.
The bounciness slider controls how much energy the ball keeps each bounce. At 95% it bounces almost forever, like a super-ball. At 30% it goes thud and settles quickly, like a ball of dough.
Bouncing on other worlds
Gravity is not the same everywhere! The Moon is small, so its gravity is about six times weaker than Earth's — dropped balls fall slowly and bounce in graceful slow motion. Giant Jupiter pulls more than twice as hard as Earth, so balls slam down fast and bounce low and quick.
Use the planet picker to travel between worlds. Same ball, same bounciness — completely different bouncing!