Superballs are Like Atoms

1. List every kind of energy that you can think of.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. The energy of motion is called kinetic energy.
3. The amount of kinetic energy something has depends on both its mass and velocity [speed]. An object with more mass and/or higher velocity [speed] will have more kinetic energy [energy of motion].
4. Which has more kinetic energy, a bowling ball or a baseball moving at the same velocity?
5. How can we make the baseball have the same kinetic energy as the bowling ball?
6. Demo: Bouncing Superball
7. Why does the superball stop bouncing?
   
   
   
   
8. When most objects bounce off something, they convert some of their kinetic energy [energy of motion] into heat or sound energy. That is why, when you drop a superball straight down, it bounces to lower and lower heights each time. Its kinetic energy [energy of motion] is changing to heat and sound energy.
9. Atoms (which we can't directly handle) behave very much like superballs (which we can handle). We will spend some time understanding the behavior of superballs, so that we can better understand the less accessible world of atoms.