How can you measure how high a tennis ball bounces?

In: Science, Tennis [Edit categories]

Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > Science > How can you measure how high a tennis ball bounces?
Answer:
My favorite way is to tape several sheets of graph paper on a big cardboard piece for a background (with marks measuring the height from the bouncing spot in a few places), and put a video recorder on a short tripod at about the height the ball will bounce (practice bounces are usually acceptable). Before we could afford video recorders, I had to watch very carefully and try to mark the spot where I saw the ball go. I found out I was not very accurate. Keep in mind things like parallax (if I'm standing too high and looking down on the ball, I end up marking a different spot on the paper than when my eye is level with the ball at that height), how far the ball is from the paper, where the ball is being released from, is there an initial downward force, and how fast the ball is moving. There are a few other things that affect accuracy that I don't remember offhand.
First answer by TheRoboticsCoOp. Last edit by TheRoboticsCoOp. Contributor trust: 24 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 1 [recommend question].

Can you answer these Science questions?

Relevant answers:

Related Ads:

Related ads:

Sign in using:

Answers.com members:




Create account
Join using:

Join Answers.com:





Already a member?
Sign in
Why join?
Joining is free and easy. You can still be anonymous; just choose any username and password.

  • Get notified about updated answers
  • Follow your favorite categories
  • Get credit for your contributions
  • Customize your profile
  • Answer questions more easily
Not convinced? Read more.
Lost your password?

You may already have an Answers.com account.
Click here to connect your accounts.  
If you don't want to connect accounts, you can start a new one from scratch.
Minor details...


  

Connect your accounts...




Lost password?
Why do we need your email address?
We will use your email address to send you updates (if you request them) about questions you ask, answer or track, and to help you retrieve your password if you forget it.

Your email address will not be used for any other purpose without your permission.
Already have an Answers.com account? Connect your accounts!
By doing so, you include all of your history (contributions, messages, profile) from your Answers.com account in your Facebook account.

If you don't connect accounts, your new account will be starting from scratch.

Home

Welcome
Help center
Browse categories
Random question
Community forum