What did your family members play with when they were kids? Read more about the science behind it. Then, summarize what you learned for a friend or family member. Did you get it? Test your knowledge. Wonder Words associated rubber chemist synthetic manufacturer elastic coefficient restitution scientific inspiration Take the Wonder Word Challenge.
Join the Discussion. Phillip Feb 7, Dear wonderopolis I love your videos. Wonderopolis Apr 29, Tyler Jarvis Apr 18, That is the funniest thing I ever heard. Wonderopolis Apr 19, Farr's Class Mar 19, David - What if you swallowed one would you bounce all over? Good listening Katelyn Shaonni - How long will the ball bounce? Good listening Ramon Jacob - How high will the super ball go?
Good listening Ashlee Jaylen - What if the ball hit you in the face? Good listening Rebecca. Wonderopolis Mar 19, Wonderopolis Jan 30, Cassie Dec 3, Wonderopolis Dec 3, This is my first post I like super balls. I have one. I hope you do a video about all kinds of dogs. Wonderopolis Oct 12, Dear Wonderopolis this is my first post we watch your videos at school. My dad says when he was a kid he loved super balls.
I have one and I love them too. Have you ever had a super ball? I hope you do a video about all kinds of dog. I learned that Wonderopolis Oct 6, Candace Oct 4, Wonderopolis Oct 5, Poplos Oct 3, I LOVE super balls! Are there any other products out there made from the same material?
Just wondering if there is anything else that can bounce that high? Wonderopolis Oct 3, Hi my name is Deandra, I am in Mrs. Bright's class you had gotten one of our messages. I love the video but let me ask you this, was that a commercial or what? Please reply, from Deandra. I would like to see how high it bounces when different people bounce it. I will test to see how high I bounce it. Then my mother, nannie, father and my teacher Mrs. I want to see if it can bounce as high as the streetlight outside my house.
I would also like to see if it bounces as high as my school but I'm afriad that the ball will get lost because it's so small. Shannon O Oct 2, Wonder Friend Wow Oct 2, Wonderopolis Oct 2, We like your enthusiasm, Wonder Friend Wow!
We hope you have a smiley kind of day! That's super high and wow I wish I could get one and where exactly can I get one??? Gina M. Oct 2, That is amazing. I thought that if just a bouncy ball could destroy a car, a couple drawers from a dresser could destroy it! I think tomorrow's wonder will be about an instrument or music. Witkowski's 4th grade cla Dear Wonderopolis, Most of us wish we had a super ball. We think they're great. We think tomorrow's wonder will be about an orchestra, a band, or an instrument that can play it self.
Thank you for the wonders, Mrs. Witkowski's 4th graders. Alexis Oct 2, I never knew the Super Bowl came from the Super Ball!! Part of the SuperBall's success can be traced back to Sputnik , the small satellite launched by the Soviet Union in Sputnik ignited the space race , but it also sparked fear among Americans who felt the Soviets were far ahead of U. To close the gap, U. Up next, we'll examine how Stingley's accident led to one of the biggest fads in the history of American toys.
A scientist working for a chemical company is sometimes reluctant to pursue his or her own research interests in a basement laboratory. That's because the employer enjoys the right of first refusal on any employee discovery, even one made by accident at home. Norman Stingley, a chemical engineer working for Bettis Rubber Company, apparently had no reservations about running a few experiments in the off-hours.
Working in his spare time in , Stingley took a gooey, rubberlike substance and compressed it under 3, pounds of pressure [source: Time Magazine].
The result was a dense, compact synthetic rubber with amazing elastic properties. The material had a tremendous bouncing potential, but it tended to crumble when struck too hard. The engineer honored his employment contract by offering the invention to Bettis.
The rubber company passed on the opportunity, citing concerns over the unstable quality of the compound. Who would want a material, even one with an unbelievable bounce, if it fell apart after a few hours? Knerr and Melin had a reputation for taking wacky inventions and turning them into sensational toys. When Stingley arrived with his synthetic rubber, the Wham-O wild men had already earned millions of dollars with the Frisbee flying disc and the Hula Hoop. The chemical engineer from Bettis felt sure they would be able to take his big idea and make it even bigger.
Wham-O accepted the challenge and sent Stingley back to the lab to make the bouncy black material more durable. After several weeks of tweaking, testing and refining, he was able to improve the formula enough to satisfy Knerr and Melin. It called for just the right ingredients, as well as the right temperature and pressure. It also required a certain shape -- a sphere of about 2 inches 5.
Stingley called his new material Zectron and filed for a patent in August Zectron, of course, didn't mean anything, but it sounded scientific and cool -- the perfect word for the post- Sputnik era. Knerr and Melin used the name to full advantage. They marketed Stingley's bouncing ball as the SuperBall, saying it was "made from amazing Zectron! The SuperBall was an instant hit across all age groups. Kids bounced the ink-black balls through their neighborhoods, while adults played with them at work when their bosses weren't looking.
Then, as quickly as the craze began, it started to ebb. By the s, a number of competitive super-bounce balls flooded the market, and the toy wasn't nearly so special.
Still, anyone who had the Original SuperBall knew there was a difference. Up next, we'll take a look at the characteristics that differentiated the SuperBall from the competition. A lot of companies tried to capitalize on the SuperBall craze of the late s and early s. They made knockoff super-bouncers that came in a variety of sizes and colors. Most were the size of large marbles and could often be found in bubblegum machines.
For a mere quarter, a kid could walk away with a rainbow -colored ball that did indeed leap higher than the average ball. True devotees of the big bounce, however, would settle for nothing less than the Original SuperBall. Luckily, it was easy to tell the difference between a Wham-O-made product and its imitators. The Original SuperBall was larger for one thing. About the size of plum, it measured 1. Its color was reminiscent of a plum, as well.
There was a — when the organ would teach you a new song in theater, the organ would play and there was a bouncing ball. When an object such as a ball bounces or when you bounce it, it moves upwards from a surface or away from it immediately after hitting it.
I bounced a ball against the house. Most scientists working for a company would be hesitant to work on any research because their employer would hold a right of first refusal. Not Stingley.
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