Bouncy Ball
Mark Ledford and Nolan O’Brien 2003
Abstract
In our project, we tested the bounce height of balls made from sodium alginate and
sodium borate. We wanted to make the bounciest ball possible, and in doing so, we
tested the variables such as: ratio, diameter, different types of glue-white glue, rubber
cement, glue stick- temperature-ranging from-5C to 30C. When we tested each of the
variables, we bounced the balls created and calculated the average bounce height as to
see which variable created the bounciest ball.
We found that the ratio of 10 g of glue, 5 g of sodium borate, and 5 g of water had the
highest bounce height of 36.52 cm. For the sodium alginate, we used the ratio of 10 g of
glue, 5 g of sodium alginate, and 5g of water, had the next highest average bounce height
of 16.25 cm.
The smallest diameter for each of the polymer balls gave the highest bounce. The sodium
alginate ball with diameter of 2.25 cm had an average bounce height of 40.31 cm. The
sodium borate ball with a diameter of 1.81 cm had an average bounce height of 37.25 cm.
The smallest diameter for each of the polymer balls created the highest bounce. The
sodium alginate ball with diameter of 2.225 cm had an average bounce height of 40.31
cm. The sodium borate ball with diameter of 1.81 cm had an average bounce height of
37.25 cm.
The sodium borate did not solidify with either he rubber cement, or the glue stick, but
when we used sodium alginate, the glue stick produced the highest average bounce,
which was 38.63 cm.
The staring temperature for the sodium alginate was –2.5° C, and the ending temperature
was 7.7° C. The staring temperature for sodium borate was –5.0° C and the ending
temperature was 7.4° C. For both of the polymer balls, temperature had a direct
relationship with bounce height, because as the temperature went up, so did the height of
bounce.
Overall, based on each of the experiments, the sodium alginate proved to bounce higher
than the sodium borate ball.
Introduction
Introduction
The purpose of this project was to create the bounciest putty possible from sodium
alginate and sodium borate. To create the bounciest putty possible, we conducted four
different experiments by adjusting the following variables: ratio (sodium alginate/borate
to glue; water to sodium alginate/borate), temperature, size and types of glue: Prang glue
stick, white glue and rubber cement. We hypothesized that size would have an indirect
relationship with height, and that the putty made from sodium borate would bounce
higher than the putty made from sodium alginate. We also hypothesized that temperature
would have an indirect relationship to height, that the best bouncing ratio would be of
10.0g glue, 2.5g polymer and 5.0g water, and that the most effective glue, increasing the
bounce of the ball, would be rubber cement.
Polymer Background
A polymer is a long change of molecules that contain repeating structural units
(monomers) that link together with strong spines of single bonded carbon atoms (1). A
monomer is a type of molecule that chemically links together with other monomers,
creating a polymer. Monomers have at least one double bond, which is broken during
polymerization. When writing a monomer, the “n” symbolizes the number of monomers
within the polymer (2). Isobutylene, which has a monomer of C4H8, is a common
polymer that is normally used in adhesives (2).
Polymers are the foundation of all adhesives. There are two types of adhesive polymers:
the homopolymer and the copolymer. The homopolymer consists of only one type of
monomer while the copolymer are comprised of more than one monomer (1). All
different types of adhesives have to go through a fundamental change in order to form
bonds. Each adhesive has its own unique way of converting from a liquid or a workable
solid into a hard and cohesive solid (1).
There are three different types of conversion properties of adhesives: evaporation,
chemical conversion and thermal conversion. In evaporation adhesives that contain water
cure to solids as the water evaporates into the atmosphere. In a chemical conversion,
adhesives that contain components that produce a chemical reaction turn the adhesive
into a cured solid.
A reaction can be triggered by moisture, polyurethane glue, a catalyst or by epoxy (1). A
thermal conversion is dependent on adhesives that only work when heated. Glues that
can be heated to promote workability are known as thermosetting adhesives.
When glue polymerizes, the polymers become organized into a solid matrix (1). The
adhesives that form molecular strands between the monomers become connected, which
is known as cross linking. Adhesives that cross link are generally more durable and water
resistant than those that do not (1).
In our project, we are using sodium alginate and sodium borate as a main ingredient of
our polymer bouncy balls. Sodium alginate is the sodium salt of algenic acid. The
chemical formula for sodium alginate is (C6H7NaO6)n (3). Sodium alginate occurs as a
white to yellowish brown filamentous, grainy, granular or in powdered form. It is most
commonly used as a stabilizer, a thickener, a gelling agent and an emulsifier. Sodium
borate is a highly toxic substance. Its chemical makeup is Na2B4IO7(4). It is a white,
gray, bluish or in greenish white streak crystals. It is odorless and is stable under
ordinary use and storage. Sodium Borate has a molecular weight of 381.37 grams/mole.
Elmer’s white glue is bonded by solvent evaporation. The solvent in Elmer's glue is
water. When the water evaporates, the polyvinyl acetate latex, which formula is
CH3COOCH:CH2 that has spread into a material's cracks forms a flexible bond (5).
The Glue stick used in our project was made by the Prang Corporation. Glue stick acts in
the same way as normal white glue, with the exception that the company has eliminated
water from the glue so there is none absorbed in the atmosphere(5).
Rubber cement is C4H6, and its solvent is made of 87% hexane and n-hexane, and 13%
non-hazerdous ingredients (6). Its incompatibles are strong oxidizing materials, liquid
chlorine, concentrated oxygen, and sodium hypochlorite. Rubber cement is highly toxic,
because it contains ingredients that are toxic and should only be used with sufficient
ventilation like a fume hood (6).
In our project, we used rubber cement, white glue, and a melted form of glue stick as our
adhesives to bond with sodium borate and sodium alginate. The different adhesives that
we used vary in bond strength, and so, the glues will affect the bounce height (7).
Altering different ratios will force glues to change the way it bonds, and thus affect the
bond strength and height of bounce (1). Some water-based glues freeze between 25°C30°C, and many of these glues can be made ineffective, and unable to form bonds if
frozen at low temperature, while some glues will only work at high temperatures (1).
For our internet interview with Mr. Chong (8), a scientist in the adhesive department
from Dixon Ticonderoga Corporation,
Q: How long have you been working for Dixon Ticonderoga
A: For about two years now.
Q: Based on your products of white glue and glue sticks, do you know of any difference
in bond strength between these two adhesives?
A: No, I don’t believe so.
Q: If we were to change the temperature of an already cured adhesive, what do you think
would happen to the strength of the bond in the adhesive once it has come back to room
temperature?
A: Well freezing or cooling certain types of glues ruins the actually adhesive, while
heating the glue will only break bonds made, but they would be made again once the
temperature returns to normal. The freezing might have an negative effect on the glue,
but the heating of the glue would not have any effect on the bonds.
Q: Do you know if the size of the objects that adhesives are bonded to have any
correlation with the strength of the bond?
A: Yes, although it is harder to apply to smaller objects, when adhesive is applied to a
smaller rather tan large object, the bond is prone to be stronger and to last longer.
Procedure
Experiment 1: Polymer Study
1. We used the 10.0 g of glue, 2.5 g of polymer and 10.0 g of water ratio for the
model of this experiment. By following the ratio, we simply plugged in different
polymers into the ratio to see which one, after formed into a ball, would bounce
the highest. We compared the bounces of each polymer by giving it a number
between 1 and 10. The higher the number means the better the bounce the
polymer ball produced.
2. First we plugged sodium alginate into the ratio from the above step. Then, after
we formed the ball, we dropped it three times to test the bounce by softly nudging
the ball off of the table, insuring a constant height of the drop. Although the ball
did not bounce, it was able to form into a solid. Therefore, we gave sodium
alginate a 4.
3. We then plugged the following polymers into the ratio from step 1: sodium
borate, adipoyl chloride, calcium chloride, guar gum and latex. By following the
process of step 2, we were able to determine and compare each of the effects of
polymers on bounce height. We gave adipoyl chloride, calcium chloride, guar
gum and latex all 1’s. This is because none of these polymers solidified (formed
into a solid) and could not be bounced. However, the sodium borate had a very
small bounce. Because of its bounce, we gave sodium borate a number 6.
4. We looked back at our data and decided that we would use sodium alginate and
sodium borate for the rest of our project because they worked best out of all the
other polymers.
Experiment 2: Ratios
Part 1: Sodium Alginate
1. First we mixed together 10.0 g of glue, 2.5 g of sodium alginate and 5.0 g of
water.
2. We formed the product from step 1 into a ball and then set it aside to dry.
3. We propped a meter stick against the side of the table to measure the bounce
of the sodium alginate ball. Then we put the ball from step 2 at the edge of
the table and softly nudged it over the edge. We then measured the height of
the bounce by using the meter stick. Then we repeated step 3 two more times
with the same ball to insure accuracy. We found that the average bounce of
this sodium alginate ball with this ratio was 25.44 cm.
4. We repeated steps 1-3 with these different ratios of sodium alginate and water;
2.5 g of sodium alginate, 10.0 g of water; and 5.0 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g
water. For the ratio of 2.5 g sodium alginate and 10.0 g of water, we got an
average bounce of 20.33 cm. For the ratio of 5 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g
water, we got an average bounce of 26.25 cm.
5. We determined that the ratio of 2.5 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g water, which
had an average bounce height of 26.25 cm, would be the best ratio to use for
experiments 3,4 and 5.
Part 2: Sodium Borate
1. We repeated steps 1-3 with sodium borate in lieu of the sodium alginate. We
determined an average bounce height of 22.72 cm.
2. We repeated steps 1-3 with these different ratios of sodium borate and water;
5.0 g sodium borate, 5.0 g water; 5.0 g sodium borate and 2.5 g of water. For
the 5.0 g sodium borate and 5.0 g water ratio, we got an average bounce
height of 36.52 cm. For the 5.0 g sodium borate and 2.5 g of water ratio, we
found an average bounce height of 18.69 cm.
3. 3. We then compared the different bounce of the ratios and determined that
the ratio of 5.0 g sodium borate and 5.0 g water, which had an average bounce
height of 36.52 cm, would be the best ratio to use for experiments 3,4, and 5.
Experiment 3: Temperature
Part 1: Effects of Lower Temperature
1. We made sodium alginate and sodium borate balls with the best bouncing
ratios described in experiment 2. The ratio for the alginate ball was 10.0 g of
glue, 2.5 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g water. The best ratio for the sodium
borate ball was 10.0 g of white glue, 5.0 g sodium borate and 5.0 g water
2. We inserted thermometers into each of the balls.
3. We placed both balls, with the thermometers attached to them, into the freezer
and chilled them to the temperature of the freezer, which caused the sodium
alginate ball to chill to –5.0°C and the sodium borate ball to chill to –1.5°C.
4. 4. After the balls had been chilled, we tested the bounces of the balls in two
minute intervals as their temperature’s returned to room temperature.
5. 5. We recorded the bounce for each trial and found that, as the temperature of
the balls increased, the height of the bounce also increased.
Experiment 4: Diameter/Proportions
Part 1: Sodium Alginate
1. We made the sodium alginate balls in this experiment referring to the best
bouncing ratio described in experiment 2. The ratio for the alginate ball was
10.0 g of glue, 2.5 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g water.
2. We split the ratio, from the above step, of each ingredient in half and created a
new putty. After the putty was formed, we measured and recorded the
diameter of the ball by using a vernier caliper. We found the diameter to be
2.25 cm. We then dropped the ball three times and recorded the bounces. We
ended with an average bounce of 40.31 cm.
3. We then doubled the ratio of each ingredient from step 1, created the putty,
and measured and recorded the diameter with a vernier calipur. We found the
diameter to be 3.95 cm. We then dropped the ball three times and recorded the
bounces. We ended with an average bounce of 28.25 cm.
4. We observed our data. We found that bounce is indirectly proportional to
height. As the ball got bigger, we found that the height became smaller.
Part 2: Sodium Borate
1. We repeated steps 1-4 with sodium borate. The best ratio for the sodium
borate ball was 10.0 g of white glue, 5.0 g sodium borate and 5.0 g water. For
the doubled ratio, we ended with a diameter of 3.75 cm and an average bounce
height of 31.75 cm. And for the halved size we had a diameter of 1.81 cm and
an average height of 37.25 cm.
Experiment 5: Varied Glues
Part 1: Sodium Alginate
1. We used the best bouncing ratio of sodium alginate, which was 10.0 g of glue,
2.5 g sodium alginate and 5.0 g water, as the model ratio for this experiment.
However, we substituted these different glues into the ratio: white glue, glue
stick, and rubber cement.
2. We melted the Prang Glue Stick. We then substituted the melted glue stick
into the ratio from step 1 by replacing the regular white glue.
3. We formed the putty, dropped it three times and recorded the bounce results.
We found that we had an average bounce height of 38.63 cm.
4. We then substituted rubber cement into the ratio from step 1 by using it as the
glue. After forming the putty into a ball and dropping it three times, we found
the average bounce height to be 36.07 cm.
5. We compared the average bounces of white glue, glue stick and rubber
cement and determined that the Prang Glue Stick produced the highest
bouncing ball of putty with an average bounce height of 38.63 cm.
Part 2: Sodium Borate
1. We repeated steps 1-3 with the best bouncing sodium borate ratio, which was
10.0 g of glue, 5.0 g sodium borate and 5.0 g water. However, we found that
the sodium borate was unable to form into a ball and therefore unable to
bounce with either rubber cement or Prang Glue Stick.
Results
Quality (Bounce Height)
Figure 1: Pre-Lab Investigation on
Varied Polymer Effectiveness
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6
5
4
Quality
3
2
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Polymer (Name)
Figure 1 shows the quality of different polymers in which they are ranked on a scale of 1
to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. The polymers ranked at 1 are all at the
same height because none of those polymers solidified (formed into a solid) and could
not be bounced. We gave sodium borate a six and sodium alginate a four because the
bounce height of the sodium borate ball was higher.
Figure 2: Different Ratios of Sodium Borate Ball
12
Amount (g)
10
8
Ratio 1
Ratio 2
Ratio 3
6
4
2
0
Glue (g)
Water (g)
Sodium
Borate (g)
Water (g)
Ingredient (Name)
Figure 2 shows how much of each ingredient was put into each ratio of the sodium borate
ball. The first ratio consists of 10g of glue, 2.5 of sodium borate and 5g of water. The
second ratio consists 10g glue, 5g sodium borate, and 5g of water. The third ratio
consists of 10g glue, 5g of sodium borate and 2.5g of water. Refer to Figure 3 for
correlation with bounce height.
Figure 3: Different Ratio's Average Bounce Heights for
Sodium Borate
Average Bounce Height (cm)
40
35
30
25
Average Bounce Height
(cm)
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
Ratio Number
Figure 3 shows the average bounce height for the three different ratios for sodium borate
shown in figure 2. The first ratio had an average height of 22.72 cm. The second ratio
had an average height of 36.53 cm, while the third ratio had an average height of 18.96
cm.
Figure 4 shows the 3 different ratios used to make the sodium alginate balls. The first
ratio consists of 10 g of glue, 2.5 g of sodium alginate, and 5 g of water. The second ratio
consists of 10 g of glue, 2.5 g of sodium alginate, and 10 g of water. The third ratio
consists of 10 g of glue, 5 g of sodium alginate, and 5 g of water.
Figure 5: Different Ratio's Average Bounce Heights for Sodium
Alginate
Average Bounce Height (cm)
30
25
20
Average Bounce
Height (cm)
15
10
5
0
Ratio 1
Ratio 2
Ratio 3
Ratio
Figure 5 shows the average height bounce for the three different ratios of sodium alginate
balls made shown in figure 4. The average bounce height for the first ratio was 25.42
cm; the average bounce height for the second ratio was 20.33 cm; the average bounce
height for the third ratio was 26.25 cm.
Figure 6: Effect of Diameter on Sodium Alginate Bounce
Height
45
Width/Height (cm)
40
35
30
25
Diameter (cm)
Bounce Height (cm)
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
Different Sizes
Figure 6 shows the effect of diameter on bounce height of a sodium alginate ball. With a
diameter of 2.95 cm, the ball bounced 26.25 cm; with a diameter of 2.25, the ball
bounced 40.31 cm; with a diameter of 3.95 cm, the ball bounced 24.92 cm.
Figure 4: Different Ratios of Sodium Alginate Ball
12
Amount (g)
10
8
Series1
Series2
Series3
6
4
2
0
Glue
Water
Sodium
Alginate
Ingredient (Name)
Water
Figure 7: Effect of Diameter on Sodium Borate Bounce
Height
40
Height/Width (cm)
35
30
25
Diameter (cm)
Bounce Height (cm)
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
Differnet Sizes
Figure 7 shows the effect of diameter on bounce height of a sodium borate ball. With a
diameter of 2.41 cm, the ball bounced 36.52 cm; with a diameter of 1.81, the ball
bounced 37.25 cm; with a diameter of 3.75 cm, the ball bounced 31.75 cm.
Figure 8: Effect of Different Glues on Bounce Height
45
Bounce Height (cm)
40
35
30
25
Sodium Alginate
Sodium Borate
20
15
10
5
0
Rubber
Cement
Prang Glue
Stick
White Glue
Type of Glues
Figure 8 shows the effect of different glues on the height of bounce for sodium borate and
sodium alginate. The sodium borate did not solidify with the rubber cement or the prang
glue stick, there for the values for that in figure 8 are zero. The sodium borate had an
average bounce height of 37.25 cm when the white glue was used. The sodium alginate
ball had an average bounce height of 30.07 cm with the rubber cement, 38.63 with the
prang glue stick, and 40.31 cm with the white glue.
Figure 9:Effect of Temperature on Bounce Height for
Sodium Borate
30
Bounce Height (cm)
25
20
15
Sodium Borate
10
5
0
-10
-5
0
5
10
Temperature (°C)
Figure 9 shows the effect of temperature on the bounce height of the sodium borate ball.
At the starting temperature of –5.0° C, the bounce height was 2.7 cm. As the temperature
continued to rise, the height of bounce did as well, until it 5.7° C when the height of
bounce was at 22.5. The temperature rose 2°C after that point, but the height of bounce
only rose to 23.9 cm.
Figure 10: Effect of Temperature on Sodium Alginate
Bounce Height
35
Bounce Height (cm)
30
25
20
Sodium Alginate
15
10
5
0
-5
0
5
10
Temperature (°C)
Figure 9 shows the effect of temperature on the bounce height of the sodium alginate ball.
At the starting temperature of –2.5° C, the bounce height was 4.3 cm. The graph
continued to rise exponentially until the ball was at a temperature of 5.0° C, when the
height of bounce stayed at a height of about 30.1 cm.
Conclusion
The purpose of this project was to make the bounciest ball possible from sodium alginate
and sodium borate. We conducted four different tests to see which variable added had
the greatest effect on bounce height. The four tests we did were ratio, size, varied glue,
and temperature.
We found that the ratio of 10 g of glue, 5 g of water, and 2.5 g of sodium alginate created
the bounciest ball for the sodium alginate ball. The average bounce height for sodium
alginate with this ratio was 26.25 centimeters. We then found that the ratio of 10 g of
glue, 5 g of sodium borate, and 5 g of water created the bounciest ball for the sodium
borate ball. The average bounce height for the sodium borate with this ratio was 36.52 g.
After finding the results of this lab, we continued research of our project, but we only
used the optimal ratios as to optimize the bounce height for each ball.
We multiplied the best ratio we found in the ratio lab by 1, 0.5, and by 2. We then took
the diameter to see if there was any correlation between size and bounce height. For the
sodium alginate, we found that the ball with a diameter of 2.25 cm had the highest
average bounce, which was 40.31 cm. For the sodium borate, we found that the ball with
the diameter of 1.81 cm had the highest average bounce, which was 37.25 cm. For both
of the polymers, when the ratio found in the ratio lab was multiplied by 0.5, the ball
created had thee highest average bounce height.
We used rubber cement and prang glue stick as our variables to test if the type of glue
had any effect on bounce height. When we tested the sodium borate with both of the
glues, we found that the product did not solidify, therefore making the results for that part
of the lab not applicable. For the sodium alginate, we found that the average bounce
height when rubber cement was used was 36.07 cm, and when the glue stick was used,
the average bounce height was 38.63 cm.
The staring temperature for the sodium borate was –5.0° C and the bounce height at that
temperature was 2.7 cm. The ending temperature was 7.4° C and the bounce height at
that temperature was 23.9 cm. With the sodium alginate, the starting temperature was –
2.5° C and the bounce height at that temperature was 4.3 cm. The ending temperature
was 7.7° C and the bounce height at that temperature was 30.3 cm. For both the sodium
alginate and the sodium borate balls, the temperature had a direct relationship with the
bounce height.
Based on our results, we found that our original hypothesis which was that the size would
have an indirect relationship with height, temperature would have an indirect relationship
with bounce height, the rubber cement would create the bounciest ball, that the 10 g of
glue-2.5 g of polymer-5 g of water ratio would create the bounciest ball and that the ball
made from sodium borate would bounce higher than the ball made from sodium alginate.
Based on our results, we found: that our hypothesis for the size lab was correct; the
hypothesis for the temperature lab was incorrect; the hypothesis for the ratio lab was
incorrect; that the hypothesis for the varied glue lab was also incorrect. The overall study
showed that in all of our experiments, the sodium alginate bounced higher than the
sodium borate, thus refuting out overall hypothesis.
For further study, we suggest that students, instead of using sodium alginate, or sodium
borate, that they use a different polymer. One could work with another polymer that
currently does not bounce, and work with it until they came up with a way in which it
does bounce. Questions that could be answered by further research include: Is it a
coincidence that out of all the polymers we used, the ones that actually bounced were
sodium based? Why did the size have an indirect relationship with bounce height?
Bibliography
1) W. Young, The Glue Book. (Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, ed.1, 1998) p. 169.
2) L. Freun, The Real World of Chemistry. (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company,
Dubuque, IA, ed.6, 2002) p. 203-205
3) Compendium of Food Additive Specifications (1997) see;
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W6355E/w6355e0x.htm
4) Strategic Services Division (2003) see;
http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/HTMLdocs/SodiumBorate.htm
5) How Stuff Works (2003) see; http://science.howstuffworks.com/question695.htm
6) Rubber Cement (1996) see;
http://www.camd.lsu.edu/msds/c/cement_rubber.htm#Physical
7) Access Science (2003) see; http://www.accessscience.com/serverjava/Arknoid/science/AS/Encyclopedia/0/01/Est_011050_printable.html
8) P.Chong, personal communication. 4 Apr 2003.