Ball Drop Gravity Race

If you were to drop a table tennis ball and a basketball, which do you think would hit the ground first? This sporty science activity is an eye-opening demonstration with lots of opportunities for learning and exploration.

a basketball, football, golf ball and table tennis ball for a ball drop science activity

Sporty Science Ball Drop Investigation

You’ll need

4 different balls – for example, table tennis ball, golf ball, football, basketball, tennis ball.

An empty space

Instructions

Choose two balls and think about which you think will hit the ground first.

Hold the balls at the same height and drop them.

Which hits the ground first? Was it the one you expected?

Try again with two more balls.

What’s going on?

The balls should hit the ground roughly at the same time. This is because the force of gravity acting on both balls is the same. This means when they leave your hand, they accelerate at the same rate even though their mass is different.

Did you spot that I said “roughly at the same time”? On Earth there is also air resistance to consider. If you were to drop a piece of paper and a ball, the air resistance acting on the paper would be greater than that acting on the ball, so the paper would fall to the ground more slowly. In our example, with two balls at a short height, the effect of air resistance isn’t enough to make a visible difference as they fall.