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Drop a rubber ball from 30 cm. How high does it come back?
Bouncing Balls lab · Last updated: 16 October 2026
In this lab you drop a rubber ball from a set height and watch how high it comes back. It looks simple, but each bounce is a small lesson in energy: where it comes from, where it goes, and why no ball bounces for ever.
What you'll discover
- A dropped ball never comes back quite as high as it started.
- Each bounce loses a share of the energy, so the bounces shrink step by step.
- Different balls keep different shares, which is why a tennis ball and a lump of clay behave so differently.
The science in plain words
When you hold a ball up high it has stored energy because of its height, called gravitational potential energy. As it falls, that stored energy turns into movement energy, called kinetic energy, so the ball goes faster and faster until it hits the floor.
At the moment of impact the ball squashes. A rubber ball works a little like a spring: as it springs back into shape it pushes off the floor and turns much of its energy back into movement. But not all of it. Some energy becomes heat inside the rubber, some becomes the sound of the bounce, and a little warms the floor.
Because some energy is lost each time, the ball rises less high after every bounce. Scientists compare the speed just after a bounce with the speed just before it. For a lively rubber ball that ratio is high, so the bounces die away slowly. For a soft or squashy ball it is low, so the ball stops almost at once.
This is the law of conservation of energy at work. Energy is never destroyed, it only changes form. The bounce height simply shows how much stayed as useful movement.
Where it fits
- India, NCERT: Class 9 science, Chapter 10: Work and Energy
- United States: Grades 6 to 8
- Next Generation Science Standards: MS-PS3-5
Common questions
Why does a ball not bounce back to the same height?
Each time the ball hits the ground, some of its energy turns into heat and sound instead of movement. With less movement energy left, it cannot climb as high as before, so every bounce is lower than the last.
Do heavier balls bounce higher?
Not because of their weight. How high a ball bounces depends mostly on what it is made of and how well it springs back into shape. A heavy steel ball on a hard floor can bounce well, while a light foam ball may barely bounce.
Where does the energy of a bouncing ball go?
It changes form. Some becomes heat inside the ball and the floor, and some becomes the sound you hear. None of it disappears; it simply stops being movement that can lift the ball.
Related labs
- Slide and Light Gates: Let a toy sled slide down a slide. How fast does it pick up speed?
- Crashing Carts: Two carts crash on a track. Where does the push go?
- Bungee Toy: Hang a toy on a big spring and let go. Does a heavier toy bounce faster or slower?
See all physics labs or every Taz science lab.
Try it yourself
The Bouncing Balls lab is one of the interactive 3D science labs inside Taz. Change one thing, predict what will happen, then run it and watch. Labs open after you sign in.