PHYSICS

EFFECT OF PREASURE IN BALL BOUNCE

HEIGHT
PROJECT REPORT

SUBMITTED BY:
POTLURI VENKAT SAI VARDHAN
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 CONTENTS

1. OVERVIEW OF C++ 03
2. INTRODUCTION 04
3. SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS 05
4. AIM OF PROJECT 06
5. SOURCE CODE 07
6. SAMPLE OUTPUT 28
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Abstract

During my basketball games recently, it was always my interest as to

know why referees would examine the school’s basketballs. The
basketballs were fully pumped, to my awareness, but the referee
continued to inspect it by inserting a psi barometer into it. I remember
him pushing the dial attachment and air would be released. What he
was trying to measure was exactly 8.0 psi, which is the standard
indoor basketball pressure. From then, I was curious as to know why
basketball games have this psi regulation. What would the
significance be if it were to be slightly higher- or vice versa? In what
ways does a 8.0 psi benefit basketball players in general? Would the
speed in which the ball bounces back from the ground increase if the
psi was raised? These are the questions which motivated me to answer
through this investigation.

Air pressure

When a basketball is inflated, it is being inserted with lots of air,

similar to that of a balloon. The basic principle is that when more air
is pushed into the ball, the air pressure increases because the air is
being squished, trying to fit in a minimal space. As the air becomes
more compact, it then pushes against itself in the ball, therefore
having a force (this is called air pressure); this force is what inflates
the ball into the sphere shape. When the basketball makes contact on
the ground, “you are temporally pressing on the ball which squishes
the air even more.”1 The importance of this is since the ball is
compact with air, the air then “presses back with a certain force.”1
This certain force is the cause to the rebound of the ball; thus
indicating that as higher pressures are applied, the ball will bounce
higher.1 The force which the ball exerts is then followed by a
velocity, and is also in the same relationship as the rebound.

Rebound, in a sports context, is when a ball bounces back from

striking a hard surface or object. In this case, rebound is a significant
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factor, especially to those who play basketball, because it can
determine the height when a basketball is dropped or dribbled on the
court. However, a basketball rebound is dependent on the amounts of
pressure inserted (pressure per inch). For instance, a NBA basketball
psi is 8.0. This pressure is important because it provides enough
rebound to NBA players, as some players are tall as 1.96 meters.
However, if only 8.0 psi is enough for individuals of that height, what
would happen if 7.5 psi is only inserted? Will there be a dramatic
decrease in height rebound? Would the velocity be much slower when
it rebounds back up? If graphed, would it be an linear growth graph?

Objective

The purpose of this investigation is to determine if different measures

of PSI have a significant effect on the initial rebound height and
velocity of a basketball. If a basketball, with a circumference of 75.0
centimeters, were inserted with psi’s of 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5,
8.0, 8.5, 9.0, and was dropped from a height of 2.0 meters, then the
psi at 9.0 would inflict a higher rebound height and velocity by 10%
to the control, when compared to the psi of 4.5 which would reach
20% less than the control. This is because the extra air pressure (in psi
of 8.5+) “pushes against the bottom of the ball, making it push harder
against the ground.”2 Which leads to the “ground push[ing] back
equally hard”2, therefore, the ball bounces back up more significantly
than psi levels lower than 8.0. Brief analysis will be conducted
between each sets of data tables and graphs to determine if the data
outcomes stays true to the research question.

Hypothesis

This experiment will limit to one basketball to remove any outliers

and will only measure the initial rebound height. The primary focus of
this investigation is the initial rebound due to basketball players
constantly dribbling the ball, which eliminates the “Half-Life Theory”
as part of the analysis. The force applied from the individual is a
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factor to be considered, but will not prevent this investigation from
seeing the effects of psi on rebound height and velocity.

Materials Required:

- Meter stick (+/-0.05cm)

- Standard Indoor Leather basketball (75 cm circumference)

- Pressure Gauge Barometer (+/- 0.05psi)

- Recording device (preferably with the slow down option)

- Ladder (optional)

Procedure:

Ball selection:

An indoor basketball was utilized for the experiment. The same 75.0
centimeter circumference ball was conducted in all six trials for each
psi levels. Although it is true that certain materials on the surface of
the ball could result in different impacts and various forces, the
standard indoor leather wrapping ball was used. The same area point

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on the ball was dropped as well to further reduce any possible
procedural errors.

Drop height:

Every basketball in all psi levels were dropped from the same height
of 2.0 meters. This value does not play a role in any of the
calculations, but is valuable to provide a uniform height for each
level.

Rebound height:

This will be calculated from the initial bounce for each psi level. The
average will be taken and it will then be inserted into a graph to
determine the significance of the slope. An iphone with the slow
motion option will be used to measure the height once it bounces.

Rebound Velocity:

The average height recorded will then be plugged into an energy

conservation equation to determine the rate of the velocity applied at
all psi levels. After finding the velocity, the data will be in the form of
a graph to determine the significance of the slope.

Experimental Variables

The dependent variable was the basketball rebound height, h, which is

measured at the maximum initial rebound in meters. To measure h, a
meter stick was aligned to the wall. When the ball is dropped from the
height of 2.0m and bounces back up, a phone will record the
maximum height it reaches.

The independent variable are the various levels of psi: 4.5, 5.0, 5.5,
6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0. A higher domain would burst the
basketball as basketball air pressure has a limit just like that of a

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balloon. A lower domain would result in no initial bounce, which
would not pair well with the results.

The control variable is the standard 8.0 psi level for an indoor
basketball. This psi is crucial as it will be compared to every psi
above and below it to dispose the significance of the relationship
between psi and height/velocity.

Controlled variables consist of: A controlled environment will be used

to conduct the experiment, ensuring no wind factor, humidity, and
temperature factor. Additionally, the scientific equipment will be
calibrated in order to check if it is working and producing accurate
outcomes with correct measurements. The basketball was dropped
from the same surface at the same area. Any offset values or outliers
were removed from the data collection and was redone for that trial;
doing so would allow proper analysis and conclusions based on the
results rather than on defective outcomes. This is a good scientific
practice, demonstrating the effects of nature and procedural errors on
the science at work.

Observations

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The 95% confidence interval was used to find the error bars in the
graph below.

Table 2: Summarized Calculations of the effects of PSI (+/- 0.05 PSI)

on rebound height measured in meters (+/- 0.05 cm).

Results

Graph 1 shows the linear growth with its equation and r2 value. This
graph indicates that as the psi increases, the height in meters rises
slightly, but not as significantly as predicted. As seen from the data
table and the graph above, at 4.5 psi, it was at 1.281 meters. But at 9.0
psi, the height was 1.518 meters. A difference of .237 meters was
shown. The r2 value is high (0.95446), indicating a low dispersion of
data around the best fit line. Having this strong line suggest that the
effects of psi on the initial rebound height is valid.

Velocity Calculations
After acquiring the average height for each psi, it was then plugged
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into a conservation of energy equation to determine the rate of
velocity it was moving between the ground to the air. This formula
below will be used:

mgh = (1/2) mv2

m is mass, g is gravity, h is height, and v is velocity.

For example, at psi of 4.5, the calculations is as follows.

(9.81ms-2)(1.281)= (1/2)(v2)

[The mass cancels from both sides]

v(4.5) = 5.013 ms-1

Graph 2 also indicates a linear growth in velocity. The r2 value is

high (0.95015), suggesting that the dispersion of data is not far from
the best fit line. This reveals how psi does have an effect on rebound
velocity, but not significantly because the difference between the
highest (9.0 psi) to (4.5 psi) was only .444 ms-1 apart. Error bars were
not needed here because the velocity was only calculated by a
formula, not recorded by the camera.

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Discussion/Validity

During the investigation of finding the effects of psi on rebound

height and velocity, various limitations may have affected the data.

The first limitation of the data collected is the small sample size. The
data only reflects 10 variations of psi and was only done for 6 trials.
By not expanding more possible values, maybe as close to the
maximum or slightly lower than 4.5, the data loses more available
analysis.

Another limitation is the pressure gauge barometer was a manual

reader. In all occasions, NBA referees and professional basketball
organizations utilize a digital barometer. As a result, having a manual
one and only having it read from an individual leads to human error;
thus creating the large uncertainty of +/- 0.05 psi.

Identically, when the ball was performing the trials after the psi
reading, some air pressure may have let loose and caused the
basketball from reaching the actual height. This can be seen since
some of the trial results and uncertainties are overlapping one another.
To possibly fix this is to purchase a new leather indoor basketball.
The one I used was a few years old and was not up to the normal
conditions.

Furthermore, a limitation is that this investigation only focused on an

indoor basketball. What would happen if the experiment was done on
an outdoor basketball? Would the material of an outdoor basketball
cause a higher significant effect on the initial rebound height and
velocity?

Equally, a human error during the experiment is recording of the data.

It was very difficult to actually read the maximum height of the
rebound because the phone was at a slight angle. A solution to fixing
this is to utilize a digital standing recording device which is capable
of reading at faster frame rates. Aligning it properly would then give
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it the best results.

Further studies, or extensions to this, could possibly be to find the

maximum height at which a indoor basketball can reach by finding
the maximum pressure per inch. It is likely that the equations [ F= ma
or P = F/A] be used to determine the actual pressure in the ball.
Although this investigation does support that psi has an effect on
rebound height and velocity, it is encouraged to try to use different
types of basketball materials to test if the material is indeed a large
factor towards the results.

Lastly, a limitation is that the error bars in both graphs overlap one
another, suggesting that the investigation was influenced by either
various factors or was a procedural error. This is most likely because
of the human error of recording it based on low frame rate phone.

Overall, I was amazed that I my data could justify why an 8.0 psi is
logical to be the standard pressure amount. Although the difference at
9.0 and 4.5 was not as significant as I would have thought it would be,
the slight change in velocity and rebound height from these two psi
levels could indeed impact a lot of players since the anticipated
velocity and height would be much faster or slower. Having all
basketballs regulated at 8.0 psi provides a uniform rate.s

Conclusion

The hypothesis was not supported. It was predicted in the hypothesis

that at 9.0 psi, it would reach 10% of a greater height and velocity
than the 8.0 psi (control), and at 4.5 psi, it would decrease at 20%. At
9.0 psi, the height only increased by 1.4% and the velocity by 0.7%.
At 4.5 psi, it only decreased at a height by 14.4% and the velocity by
7.5%. Despite the previous mentioned limitations and unsupported
hypothesis, the research question was in fact partially supported. The
effects of psi on rebound height in graph 1 was not significant, but the
positive linear slope suggest that the effects were prominent. Clearly,
having a higher pressure does result in a larger force, supporting the
methodology that psi contributes to greater rebound in both height
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and velocity.

References

1. Abel, John. “Do Basketballs That Are Fully Inflated Bounce Better
than Flatter Ones?” UCSB Science Line,
scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3939.

2. Tamara. “Q & A: Why Do Basketballs Bounce?” Q & A: Why Do

Basketballs Bounce? | Department of Physics | University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=103.

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