Ideas for a science experiment involving sports....?

Question

The experiment has to be suitable for children in grades 5-6 and should take about an hour. There has to a teachable lesson and should be hands on and fun. It also has to do with sports... any ideas?

Answer 1

Throwing, Kicking, Hitting, and Bouncing

The Physics of Follow-Through. This project can apply to soccer, hockey, baseball and many other sports. What is the effect of stopping the kick/shot/swing at the moment of impact vs. following through? Think of a way to measure the outcome in each case, and explain your results. (idea from Gardner, 2000, 83–85; for more information with regard to specific sprorts, see: Barr, 1990, 12–14; Gay, 2004, 142–144; Adair, 2002, 30.)


How High Can You Throw a Baseball? A Tennis Ball? A Football? A Golf Ball? (The Experimental Procedure section below has one way to measure this, from Wiese, 2002, 20–22.) Advanced project idea: Can you develop an explanation for your performance based on the forces acting on the balls?


How Far Can You Kick (or Throw, or Hit) a Ball? What launch angle gives the longest horizontal distance? Make a giant protractor with cardboard to measure angles, or use a video camera to record your throws and analyze the launch angle. Try using your garden hose to see which angle sprays water the farthest. (Idea from Gardner, 2000, 27–30; also see: Wiese, 2002, 22–24.)


Here are some project ideas that explore the physics of bouncing balls:


Measure the Rebound Rating (ratio of bounce height to drop height). Do background research on the physics of "elastic" and "inelastic" collisions. Lots of possible variations: explore how the rebound rating varies for different balls, different surfaces, different temperatures, punctured vs. not. (See: Gardner, 2000, Chapter 4; or, Goodstein, 1999, 9–12, 21, 28–31.)


Why is the Rebound Rating < 1? This implies that not all of the potential energy is converted to the kinetic energy of the bounce. But conservation of energy requires that the energy must be the same before and after the ball is dropped? Where does the energy go? Bounce a ball 100 times, then hold it in your hand. In your other hand hold a ball that wasn't bounced. What is the difference? (See: Goodstein, 1999, 22–23.)


How Quickly Does a Tennis Ball Lose Its Bounce? Does it matter what type of court the ball is used on? (See: Goodstein, 1999, 63–64.)


Here are some projects that explore the physics of balls bouncing off of different surfaces:


For example, think of hitting a baseball, heading a soccer ball into the net, or hitting a tennis ball with a racquet. Where the ball goes depends on...what? You can set up a simple model to start your investigation. You'll need a marble, a flat piece of wood, a flat piece of cardboard, a pencil, a ruler, a protractor, and a level surface. Lay down the cardboard down on a level surface and set up the flat piece of wood at one edge. The wood will act like a wall, and you're going to roll the marble at it from different angles to see how the marble bounces off. On the cardboard, mark the starting point, the point where the marble strikes the wood, and a point along the marble's path as it rolls away from the wood. Use the pencil and ruler to connect the incoming and outgoing trajectories of the marble to the point where the marble bounced off the wood. Draw a line perpendicular to this point, and measure the angle between the perpendicular line and the incoming and outgoing trajectories. Do this for at least 10 trials at each of several different angles. What is the relationship between the two angles? Now apply what you learned to a real-life sports situation (like heading a soccer ball or hitting a baseball). In the real-life situation, the ball is no longer hitting a stationary target and bouncing off, it's hitting something that is moving. That makes it harder to measure the angles; just remember that what is important is measuring the angles at the point of impact.


For a more advanced project, you may also want to consider how the spin of the ball can change its trajectory. You could choose to concentrate only on the spin imparted by the kick, the bat or the racquet, or you may want to get really complicated and consider the spin of the incoming ball as well. (Idea from Wiese, 2002, 31–34. For more advanced explanations, including the effects of spin, see the Bibliography for a book on the particular sport which interests you.)

Answer 2

Science Fair Projects Involving Sports

Answer 3

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