College Algebra – Bouncing Ball Activity
Name: ___________________________________________
Name(s) of Other Group Member(s):_______________________________________________________
Objective: To use calculator regressions to determine and apply the relationship between the heights
of dropped balls and the heights of their bounces.
Materials: Yardstick, ping pong ball, graphing calculator
Step 1: Fill in the following tables by dropping a ping pong ball from different heights and recording
the height of one bounce. After completing five trails at each height, find the average of all five trails,
rounding to the nearest hundredth.
Tennis Ball
Drop
Height (x)
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
Average
Bounce (y)
6 in
12 in
18 in
24 in
30 in
36 in
Step 2: With the initial drop height as the independent variable (x) and the average bounce-back as
the dependent variable (y), use a graphing utility to draw a scatter plot and determine the line of best
fit. Write your equation below , rounding to the nearest thousandth.
Step 3: Use your equation to predict
If a ping pong ball had a bounce of 200 inches, from what height was it initially dropped? Show all
work.