Limitations and Assumptions

Limitations

As mentioned in an earlier post, one limitation of this investigation is that there was human error when collecting the data. When using the motion sensor to record the movement of the balls, human reaction resulted in a difference between the time when the balls were released and the time when the motion sensor was started. This caused some of the starting heights of the balls to be inaccurate, as the motion sensor was only started after the ball was already released. This could have possible implications on the data such that the rebound ratio of the balls would not be completely accurate.

Assumptions

• Starting height of the balls remained the same for all the data collected. Due to the limitation mentioned above about human error, the measurement of the starting height of the balls was not as accurate as possible. However, since a long ruler was used to measure the starting height of the balls, the starting height can be assumed to be the same.
• Surface on which the balls bounce is the same throughout the data collection.
• All the balls are assumed to be released with the same effort, since they were allowed to freefall.
• The balls are assumed to have the same surface and shape. This is because the balls were shaped using human hands, and so will not be exactly spherical.