1. Shawnee Mission School District Science Fair

2. THROW THE DISTANCE

3. Question
Which ball can be thrown the farthest: a football , basketball , or tennis ball?

4. Research
Speed is a measure of an object’s change in position during a unit of time.
Any push or pull is a force added to the ball.
Any change in position is motion.
Position is a certain place.
A force is a push or a pull.
Acceleration is any change in speed or the direction of an object’s motion.

5. Hypothesis
If the ball type is changed , then the tennis ball will be thrown the farthest.

6. Independent Variable
Ball type

7. Distance the ball is thrown
Dependent Variable
Distance the ball is thrown

8. Location How the ball was thrown
Control Variable
Location
How the ball was thrown

9. Materials
Basketball
Tennis ball
Football
Meter tape

10. Procedure Throw the football.
Mark the spot where the ball landed and measure the throwing distance.
Repeat steps 1-2 two more times.
Repeat steps 1-3 with the basketball and then the tennis ball.

11. RESULTS Distance Thrown in Meters
BALLS
TRIAL 1
TRIAL 2
TRIAL 3
MEAN
BASKETBALL
4.12
4.84
5.33
4.76
FOOTBALL
7.06
7.51
8.02
7.53
TENNIS BALL
8.22+

12. Mean Throwing Distance [In Meters]

13. CONCLUSION
The tennis ball was thrown the farthest which supported the hypothesis. Since the tennis ball had the least amount of mass, the force of the throw acted on the tennis ball more than on the other two ball types.
In the future a similar investigation could be done. Instead of measuring distance, throwing speed with the different ball types could be tested.