Education Technology


Calculus: Analysis of a Bouncing Ball

by Texas Instruments

Overview

In this activity, students use the motion detector to collect data for a bouncing ball. They fit an equation to the data with a quadratic regression and use the first and second derivatives to analyze the graphs of velocity and acceleration as a function of time. They discover the connections between the graphs and the motion of the ball.

Key Steps

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    Students will predict the height from the ground versus time graph for a ball bouncing underneath the motion detector. Then students will use the CBR to collect data from the ball bounce.

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    Students will find a quadratic regression equation for the data.