If one were to drop a superball from the top of the Empire State Building, how high would it bounce?

Answer 1

It would reach terminal velocity long before it reached the ground, so about the same distance as if it were dropped from a 20-story building. The material very efficiently transforms the kinetic energy into stress within the material, but only when the displacement is within the limits of the material. Exceed those limits, and even less of the kinetic energy is restored by the bounce.

Assuming it lands on a hard surface and doesn't break apart, my guess is that it would bounce at most 5 stories. The next bounce would probably be around 4, with successive bounces returning to a higher percentage of the peak height.

Answer 2

I think that superball would break on impact and pieces of it would ricochet in different directions. The force at which the ball would hit the surface would be greater than the elasticity of the balls' tensil stregth. Therfore it would tear itself apart on impact.

Imagine what it would look like right when the ball hit. It would start to flatten out as it absorbed the force of impact. Much like when you drop a ball of playdough onto a table. I think the force it would have to absorb would be too high and it would continue to "flatten" out until the surface of the ball stretched too far and it would finally fail.

Answer 3

That depends on exactly how super the ball is, but very good bouncy balls can rebound as much as 2/3 of the original drop height. If it had already reached terminal velocity, it would bounce 2/3 the distance it takes to reach terminal velocity.

Answer 4

Depends on the superball's variables and the point of impact, along with weather conditions, but as an estimate I'd hypothesize pretty damn high.

Answer 5

If it hits a flat surface at a 90 degree angle, somewhat below the point from which it was dropped.