The relation between a basketball internal air

pressure and its initial vertical bounce height ?

Word count: 1780

Introduction

In this internal assessment I am going to investigate how different pressure values

affect the initial bounce height of a basketball. Every time I play basketball, I notice a

correlation between the internal air pressure of the ball and its bounciness. However, I did

not know why and how much the internal air pressure affected a basketball. This curiosity

caused me to conduct an investigation into how the internal air pressure of basketball affects

its initial vertical bounce. According to the NBA, The ideal value of pressure inside of a

basketball must be between 7.5psi and 8.5psi. This investigation is personally interesant for

me as basketball is one of my favorite hobbies. Understanding the physics behind the sport

will improve my understanding of the sport and may improve my performance. Thus, the

question that will be answered in this investigation is whether changing the pressure of the

basketball and dropping from a fixed height will have an effect on the initial vertical bounce

height.

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Hypothesis

Increasing the internal air pressure of a basketball will result in a higher initial vertical

height, the relationship between bounce height and pressure being approximately

proportional to each other, assuming that drop height and temperature are constant during

the experiment.

Mathematically, This can be expressed as:

h2​∝P
Where h is the initial vertical bounce height and P is the internal air pressure of the

basketball. Meaning that when the internal air pressure increases, the bounce height will

increase as well. This relationship may be more complex due to the factors like energy loss

during the bounce, but the bounce height is expected to increase proportionally with

pressure.

Background knowledge

My hypothesis is based on the following understanding: when the basketball is

dropped, its potential energy (PE) is at its maximum. As the ball falls, this potential energy is

gradually converted into kinetic energy (KE), as illustrated in Graph 1. Given that whenever

KE is at its peak, PE is at its lowest, we can infer that when the ball reaches a height of zero

(when it hits the ground), its potential energy transforms into kinetic energy. However, this is

not the only form of energy involved at this moment. There is also elastic potential energy

and thermal energy. The basketball exhibits both elastic and deformation characteristics,

meaning that upon hitting the ground, it deforms and stores elastic energy, which enables it

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to rebound. After colliding and deforming against the ground, the ball quickly returns to its

original shape, so quickly that it's imperceptible to the human eye.

Before the ball bounces back, some energy is transferred to the ground, specifically as

thermal energy generated by friction between the ball and the surface. This friction and air

resistance results in a loss of kinetic and potential energy. Additionally, some energy is

converted into sound energy. Due to the presence of these various energy forms, the ball

does not bounce back to its original height. The energy it initially had has been redistributed

into different types of energy.

Graph 1, Energy against time

Finding the amount of energy lost:

Energy = m x g x h

Mass(m):624g Gravity(g) : 9.81 m/s2 Height(h): 1.00m

E = 624 x 9.81 x 1.00

E ≈ 6121.44J

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Experiment Variables

Independent Variable: The independent variable in this investigation will be the internal air

pressure (measured in PSI and converted to bar) of the basketball.

Dependent Variable: The dependent variable in this investigation will be the maximum initial

bounce height (measured in meters).

Controlled Variables:

Variable Justification

The drop height must be controlled so that

Drop Height each trial will have the same amount of
gravitational potential energy

The surface type affects how much energy

Surface in which the basketball is will be absorbed during the experimental
dropped trials. So the surface must remain the same
across all trials

Different basketballs may have different

materials that influence the weight and the
Basketball model and material surface texture, which can affect the
bounce height. Using the same basketball
makes these factors to be the same in all
trials.

Different
methods to measure the initial bounce
Measurement method height may introduce inconsistencies or
errors in the data. By using the same app
(Viana2), it’s possible to avoid this
inconsistencies
Uncontrolled Variables:

Variable Justification

Wind The experiment was carried out in an room

with all windows closed but still it can have
wind interference

State of the basketball The basketball used in the experiment was

relatively old and has been pumped before,
it might have punctures that have not

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 closed

Material used for the experiment

● Basketball

● Electrical air pump that measures the internal air pressure

● Measurement tape

● Camera

● Viana2(video tool)

● Calculator

Experimental setup

Figure 1. Experimental setup of the experiment

Procedure for the experiment

1. Pump the basketball with the right amount of internal air pressure

2. Measure the internal air pressure

3. Posicionate the camera in a angle that films the whole experiment

4. Using the tape to measure the drop height

5. Start recording and drop the ball from a 1 meter height

6. Repeat the step 1-5 five times but each time with a different internal air pressure

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Environmental Considerations

The basketball and the air pump are still used for recreational purposes and there were no

environmental issues detected in the investigation.

Ethical Considerations

There were no ethical concerns detected in this investigation, as there are no moral issues

or a living organism involved.

Safety Considerations

There were no safety concerns detected in this investigation, as there were no safety risks

involved.

Raw Data

Initial vertical bounce height (meters)

PRESSURE TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2 TRIAL 3 TRIAL 4 TRIAL 5

(bar)

0.34 0.65 0.60 0.63 0.60 0.67

0.41 0.69 0.68 0.70 0.73 0.69

0.48 0.79 0.81 0.79 0.77 0.80

0.55 0.82 0.81 0.80 0.82 0.83

0.62 0.84 0.85 0.88 0.84 0.86

table 1. Raw data showing the initial vertical height measure in meters by “Viana2”

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The raw data was obtained by a graph provided by the video analysis tool, Viana2, as

illustrated in figure 2 one of the trials of the experiment. The graph illustrates every bounce

realized by the basketball after the drop, in a height against time graph, using the first

bounce peak height it is possible to obtain the initial vertical bounce height.

Figure 2. Screenshot from the app Viana2

Uncertainties

Uncertainty of the internal air pressure is ±0.05 bar as the pressure gauge on my

electrical basketball has a margin of error of ±0.6 psi and converting to bar it

becomes 0.04 bar, and the temperature and atmospheric pressure of the air can

affect the internal air pressure of the basketball after it has been inflated causing a

possible change of 0.01 bar.

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Data Processing

Air Pressure (bar) Dropping height (m) Average initial bounce

height (m)

0.34±0.05 1 0.63

0.41±0.05 1 0.698

0.48±0.05 1 0.792

0.55±0.05 1 0.816

0.62±0.05 1 0.854
Table 2. Data with the uncertainties and average initial bounce height

Graph 2. Average initial vertical bounce height X pressure

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 Calculating Error Bars

Example 0.34 bar

Sx = 0.0308

For such calculations, I will be using Sx and not ox, since Sx is the scientific notation

and it is the more professional way of calculating uncertainties in measurements

[Mathematics Analysis and Approaches for the IB Diploma, Chapter 10, 2024].

Pressure of the Basketball Mean (meters) Standard Deviation

(bar) (metres)

0.34 0.63 0.0308

0.41 0.69 0.0212

0.48 0.79 0.0151

0.55 0.81 0.0132

0.62 0.85 0.0173

h of (0.34 bar) = 0.63m ± 0, 0308m

h of (0.41 bar) = 0.69m ± 0, 0212m

h of (0.48 bar) = 0.79m ± 0, 0151m

h of (0.55 bar) = 0.81m ± 0,0132m

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 h of (0.62 bar) = 0.85m ± 0,0173m

Graph 3. Average initial vertical bounce height X pressure with error bars

Conclusion

After finishing my experiment, I concluded that internal air pressure is directly linked

with the initial height of the basketball. Firstly my hypothesis was correct, due to the fact that

increasing the internal air pressure of basketball will increase the initial vertical bounce

height, due to the increased energy stored in the basketball, as is possible to observe in the

average height x pressure graph when the pressure is at highest it achieve 0,846cm and

when the pressure is at lowest it achieve 0,63cm. And when the basketball has more internal

air pressure it becomes more solid and becomes less deformable. Resulting, when the ball

bounces in the floor more of the impact energy is stored as elastic potential energy. This

stored energy is released and impusionates the basketball to a higher vertical bounce

compared with a basketball with lower internal air pressure.

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 Evaluation

It's also crucial to identify weaknesses that emerged during the experiment. One of

the main challenges I encountered was working with a ball that had 0 bar pressure, meaning

the pressure inside the ball was equal to the outside pressure. Another problem arose when

creating graphs as I wasn’t familiar with the tools and caused me to utilize more time than I

expected. An additional improvement to the video analysis would be to find a more reliable

app with more precise measurement tools, as the app I used, called Viana2, had some

issues with accuracy as the results tended to change in some cases, even though the points

measured were still the same . To cross-check, I manually reviewed the slow-motion video to

ensure I obtained the most accurate values. If I were to repeat this experiment, I would use a

brand new basketball to see if that impacts the rebound values. Additionally, it would be

interesting to conduct the experiment on different surfaces to observe any variations in the

results.

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 Bibliography

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Atmospheric Pressure."Encyclopedia

Britannica.

Last modified: December 8,2023.

https://www.britannica.com/science/atmospheric-pressure

Dropping the Ball”. ReadWorks. Last modified 2013.

https://www.herricks.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=141&dat
aid=475&FileName=dropping%20the%20ball%20-%20energy.pdf

Pearson. “Mathematics Analysis and Approaches for the IB Diploma”. England,

London: Pearson Education, 2019. Chapter 4 and 10.

“Atmospheric Pressure”. National Geographic. Last modified: 2023.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/atmospheric-pressure/

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