Bouncy Ball Facts: Amazing Details Uncovered For Kids

A bouncy ball is a spherical toy, practically a sphere-shaped rubber ball and these small balls are cool to drop on the ground.

This ball is made from plastic which enables it to bounce on hard surfaces, and it is small in size. When thrown on a hard surface, the balls retain their kinetic energy and momentum.

While it looks like a bowling ball, the pressure makes the ball bounce when dropped, and it is so much for the kids to play with. Other bouncy balls like tennis balls resemble spalpeens, center hollow sky balls, and rubber synthesized superballs.

There was a false claim that the ball was made from the blend of rubber plants from East India and the outer part of the Mangolian tree.

It was later found that polybutadiene is the primary material of bouncy balls. The spin repeats as the super ball bounces.

What is a bouncy ball?

When thrown on a hard surface like a floor or wall, a small ball made of polybutadiene rubber backfires.

The movement of such balls is based on Projectile Motion activated and is known by the restitution coefficient. When a sports activity takes place, the bouncing capacity of the ball is reviewed.

With high bounce capacity, these balls are resisted for use by professionals to play in sports programs.

The factors that predict the bounce of bouncing balls include the hardness of the area, manufacturing elements with which the balls are composed, amount of pressure inside hollow space of the power ball, rotating tenacity, and consequence of velocity.

Invention Of Bouncy Balls

A chemist, Norman Stingley, who worked for Bettis Rubber Company, invented bouncy balls in 1965.

The highest bouncy ball invented is Skyball which reaches up to 75 ft (22.86 m) bounce when freely thrown.

The manufacturing of these balls is somewhat like a chemical reaction between glue and borax. The cross-linkage in Borex's polymer allows the hold of molecules inside.

Plastics and natural or synthetic polymers like nylon, silicone, wool, and synthetic rubber can be alternative sources for making bouncy balls.

The balls weigh just 4.27 oz (121 g) with a size of 2.4 in (6 cm). It is the Kinetic energy that spreads energy for movement in the ball. The bouncing back over hard surface needs energy with collision from the earth.
 

What are the main ingredients of a bouncy ball?

Here are some main ingredients you could expect in a bouncy ball.

The main ingredients are lukewarm water (half cup), cornstarch (one tablespoon), borax (one tablespoon), food colors, glue (two tablespoons). It is advised to use rubber gloves to make a bouncy ball.

Let us take a look at the preparation methods. Start by taking a vessel to mix borax with lukewarm water. Then take another vessel and mix cornstarch, glue, and food colors, whichever you like the most. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the borax mixture.

The glue mixture starts getting a rigid shape when you work on the mixture with your hands. Make your hold soft to get the exact shape. Put your half-made balls in a plastic container for four to five hours so that it gets hardened and take their shape.

The use of borax brings a threat to your skin, so another alternative method for bouncy balls preparation is to use baking soda, cornstarch, glue water, food colors. The technique is the same just substitute borax with baking soda.

The home manufacturing of bouncy balls should be done by adults only. Children below three years are advised not to play with them as they can mistake the ball as candy or chewing gums leading to difficulty in ingestion.

Children with higher age groups who can stay cautious should play with such balls. You can get access to bouncy balls online or at nearby grocery stores and marts.

Types And Sizes Of Bouncy Balls

There are four main types of bouncy balls, i.e., Superballs, Skyballs, and Spaldeens.

Skyballs are hollow balls constituted with a blend of compressed air and helium, enabling them to bounce high. The restitution's coefficient is low with small sizes and plenty of options for designs.

LEDs are present in such balls, making them into glow balls and facilitating the companies' advertising as printing can be done on its surface. Jugglers also use such balls for juggling in circuses.

Superballs are the balls invented in 1964 with the highest bouncing capacity and coefficient of restitution. The first sellers of superballs were the Wham-O toy company and processed its copyright with them. The size of super all is smaller as compared to Spaldeens.

Spaldeens have a resemblance to tennis balls which were formed in 1939s. It's often found in pink color. It escalated the street games in America like stickball.

From its uses and liking by the players, other ball manufacturers also made similar balls named Pensie Pikie but failed to give Spaldeens the most liked competition.

When a ball is suspended in a yardstick, the first bounce depends on the height from which the ball is thrown. The other bounces reach as high as 85%.

Mega bounce XTR is categorized under the maximum bouncy ball with a bounce higher than a double-story building.

If three balls made of different elements are thrown from the same height, it will be concluded that the rubber ball will create the most bounce. The reason behind this is the elasticity which turns the ball in its original shape when hit on the hard surface.

When a rubber ball is thrown on a hard surface, the compress and squashing capacity makes it bounce high.

The same applies to glass balls, too, but a cautious act is to use a hard surface that doesn't break off the glass ball. The surface should be stiff.

Did You Know?

Let us start with the most interesting fact about these rubber balls.

The Super Bowl is named after these super balls. The founder watched his kids play with these rubber balls (popularly the super balls) and realized how punchy the term Super Bowl is, and the rest is history.

Another interesting fact is that a giant super ball was dropped from the roof of a hotel in Australia, and it ended up totaling a car.

Getting into some physics about the original force, the exertion of kinetic energy makes it bounce simultaneously when hit on a hard area.

There are methods to make the super balls at home using borax or baking soda as a substitute.

Kids below three years should avoid playing with them as it can be misunderstood as candy or gum, which can cause a significant threat afterward.

Various properties make the super balls attractive, like the heat resistance properties, elongation capability, and so on.

Superballs are definitely fun to play with. They look like golf balls but bounce back when dropped, and the spin keeps the kids entertained.