In this assignment, you are going to design a method to decrease the force that occurs in a collision between a moving object (a soccer ball) and a stationary object (the floor).
When a ball is bounced, the ball exerts force on the floor, and the floor exerts force back on the ball. The force of the floor on the ball causes it to bounce back up. If the force is larger, the ball will bounce higher. If the force is lower, the bounce will not be as high.
To decrease force, you will change the surface the ball is bouncing on. Recall that the limits on an engineering project are called constraints. In this case, the constraint is that you can only use 1 sheet of paper. There are a few ways to change the bouncing surface using only 1 sheet of paper. For example, you could crumple the paper or fold the paper into different shapes.
To complete the assignment, first drop the ball onto the floor from a height that you determine. You will drop the ball from this height each time and observe how high the ball bounces. Then, use the sheet of paper to create a surface that will reduce how high the ball bounces. After engineers have decided which solution they want to use, they spend some time improving their design. Therefore, you will refine your method to decrease the height the ball bounces even more.
Write a paragraph that answers the following, then submit it to your teacher for grading.
- Describe what you did to decrease the height the ball bounced.
- What did you do to refine your method? Why?
- How well did the refinement work?
Your assignment will be graded using the following rubric.
| Excellent | Above Average | Satisfactory | Below Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Completion and Knowledge | The student shows a full understanding of the topic and thoroughly completed the assignment. | The student shows a good understanding of the topic and met most of the assignment requirements. | The student shows some knowledge of the topic and completed some of the assignment requirements. | The student does not seem to understand the topic and did not complete the assignment. |
