fairfolio
Saved Projects

Going the Distance: The Effect of Soccer Ball Construction Materials on Performance

CSEF · 2004 Applied Mechanics/ Structures & Mechanisms/ Manufacturing

Benjamin Desch, Kevin Woolley · Sunny Brae Middle School, Arcata

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of the project we did was to determine which type of bladder material -- latex or butyl-- used in making soccer balls, would make for the bounciest ball. By bounciest, we mean, the balls that would go farthest when kicked. We think that the balls with the latex bladders will travel farther when kicked than the balls with butyl bladders. Methods/Materials A total of 18 balls were used: 9 with latex rubber bladders and 9 with butyl rubber bladders. The balls were labeled LA through LI if they were made with a latex bladder and B1 through B9 if they were made with a butyl bladder. A machine was designed and constructed of 2" by 4" boards, metal rods and wood screws to simulate the kicking of a ball and to keep the strike on the balls consistent. We used an artificial turf playing field at Humboldt State University. The balls were placed one at a time in front of the machine. The distance of each ball was measured by the yard markers on the field. A total of 3 repetitions were made for each ball. Results The average of all trials of latex bladders is 33.56 yards. The average of all trials of butyl bladders is 31.09 yards. The latex bladder balls average higher than the butyl bladder balls. The latex balls traveled an average of 2.47 yards farther than the butyl balls. When all 54 kicks are ranked longest to shortest distance traveled, out of the top (longest distance) half, 21 are latex and six are butyl. At the bottom (shortest distance) half, 21 are butyl and six are latex. Conclusions/Discussion Looking at the average distance comparison, or a ball by ball comparison, the latex bladder balls travel farther than the butyl bladder balls when kicked by the machine. We think the latex balls would travel farther when kicked by people, just like they did with the kicking machine.

Summary statement

Our project is about comparing materials (latex and butyl baldders) in soccer balls to see which will provide better bounce.

Help received

Father helped build the machine and helped wiht the computer graphing. Soccer friends, coaches, and Sunnybrae Middle School helped provide balls. Used Redwood Bowl at Humboldt State University for the testing of the balls.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2004 Applied Mechanics/ Structures & Mechanisms/ Manufacturing · Entry J0207

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google