2007-01-19 18:53:00 · 14 answers · asked by SaRa 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Bounce....if the wind doesn't carry it so far away that it's never heard from again.
It's light, for having as much surface area as it does. Once you account for air resistance and the low weight of a pingpong ball, the terminal velocity it could achieve wouldn't be any higher than the impact velocity generated by the paddle it's designed to be hit with.
2007-01-19 19:06:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will bounce. As it falls the force of gravity will be matched by the drag caused by the air, and it will reach it's terminal velocity. Because a ping pong ball is made to handle the high impacts of a paddle, it can handle the impact from being dropped any distance.
A typical cat, however, is right on the border-line of being able to survive such a fall. Drop a cat from 1000 ft, and it might survive. In fact, it's actually more likely to survive from 1000 ft that 150 feet.
That's becasue a typical cat will still be accelerating up until then, and the cat will be tense, and point it's feet down. Which is a bad move, as it will decrease it's cross section and speed it up, SPLAT! Poor kitty,
But from 1000 ft, the cat will hit it's terminal velocity, and relax, because it's not accelerating; it will spreading out it's body flat, and it slows down. Making it more likely to survive.
As strange as this sounds....it's been tested,
2007-01-20 03:19:12 · answer #2 · answered by tallthatsme 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bounce. a ping pong ball has very little mass so it's fall will be relatively gentle and the material it is made of will easily withstand the impact of hitting the ground. The ping pong could probably fall at any height and be okay as the terminal velocity will never exceed what is needed to break the ball.
2007-01-20 02:56:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a professional game of table tennis (ping pong), balls reach MUCH higher velocities than if they are dropped from a building, and they rarely break in matches. It qould bounce, as long as the surface it landed on is not spikey!
2007-01-20 03:15:26 · answer #4 · answered by Mez 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will just bounce off. Because it's mass is so less, that it will not reach a terminal velocity that could break the ball. For such a lighter mass object the friction with the air is high and makes i'ts velocity even slower.
2007-01-20 02:55:39 · answer #5 · answered by tonycharms05 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bounce. Ping-Pong balls are too light to acquire high velocity from gravity -- air resistance limits their speed.
2007-01-20 02:59:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm no physics expert, but I would imagine the wind resistance would be too great for it to reach a really high velocity. Not only is the ball light, but it has air inside, so it is basically the same density as the air also.
2007-01-20 02:57:43 · answer #7 · answered by Created A Madman 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It will just bounce, because it will reach terminal velocity long before it hits the ground.
2007-01-20 03:01:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would bounce because it's light enough to be affected so much by wind resistance, it wouldn't fall very fast.
2007-01-20 03:08:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
BOUNCE,
is too light, at any moment the speed will not increase anymore.
2007-01-20 02:58:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋