Super Ball
Encyclopedia
SuperBalls or bouncy balls is a toy
, invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley by compressing a synthetic rubber material under high pressure. It is an extremely elastic
ball
made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic rubber polymer polybutadiene
, as well as hydrated Silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients vulcanized
with sulfur at a temperature of 165 degrees Celsius and at a pressure of 80 atmospheres (1,175 psi). The Super Ball has an amazingly high coefficient of restitution
. Dropped from shoulder level, Super Balls snapped nearly all the way back; thrown down by an average adult, it can leap over a three-story building. Toys similar to a SuperBalls are more generally known as bouncy ball
s, a term which covers other more or less similar balls by different manufacturers with different formulations.
and they worked on developing a more durable version. This version is still manufactured by Wham-O
.
"It took us nearly two years to iron the kinks out of Super Ball before we produced it." according to Richard Knerr
, President of Wham-O. "It always had that marvelous springiness.... But it had a tendency to fly apart. We've licked that with a very high-pressure technique for forming it. Now we're selling millions." Knerr continued.
When the SuperBall was first introduced, it became a fad
. Peak production was over 170,000 superballs per day. By December 1965 over six million had been sold, and US Presidential adviser McGeorge Bundy
had five dozen superballs shipped to the White House
for the amusement of the staff. Knowing that fads are often short-lived, Wham-O Executive Vice-president Richard P. Kerr said "Each Super Ball bounce is 92% as high as the last. If our sales don't come down any faster than that, we've got it made." Initially the full size Super Ball sold for ninety-eight cents at retail, by the end of 1966 it's colorful miniature versions sold for as little as ten cents in vending machines.
In the late 1960s Wham-O made a "giant" superball, roughly the size of a bowling ball, as a promotional stunt. It fell from the 23rd story window of an Australian hotel (or some reports say, from the roof) and destroyed a parked convertible car on the 2nd bounce.
The composer Alcides Lanza
, in his composition Plectros III (1971), specified that the performer should use a pair of Superballs on sticks as mallets with which to strike and rub the strings and case of a piano. Lanza purchased several SuperBalls in 1965 as toys for his son, but soon he started experimenting with the sounds they made when rubbed along the frame or strings of a piano. Several years later, Plectros III resulted.
After watching his children play with a Super Ball, Lamar Hunt
, founder of the American Football League
, coined the term Super Bowl
. In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." Although the leagues' owners decided on the name "AFL-NFL Championship Game," the media immediately picked up on Hunt's "Super Bowl" name, which would become official beginning with the third annual game.
The "rough" nature of a Super Ball makes its impact characteristics different from otherwise similar smooth balls. The resulting behavior is quite complex. The superball has been used as an illustration of the principle of Time Reversal Invariance
.
A superball is observed to reverse the direction of spin on each bounce. This effect depends on the tangential compliance and frictional effect in the collision, it cannot be explained by rigid body impact theory, and would not occur were the ball perfectly rigid. (Tangential compliance is the degree to which one body clings to rather than slips over another at the point of impact.)
High school physics teachers use Super Balls to educate students on usual and unusual models of impacts.
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
, invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley by compressing a synthetic rubber material under high pressure. It is an extremely elastic
Elasticity (physics)
In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic rubber polymer polybutadiene
Polybutadiene
Polybutadiene is a synthetic rubber that is a polymer formed from the polymerization process of the monomer 1,3-butadiene.It has a high resistance to wear and is used especially in the manufacture of tires, which consumes about 70% of the production...
, as well as hydrated Silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients vulcanized
Vulcanization
Vulcanization or vulcanisation is a chemical process for converting rubber or related polymers into more durable materials via the addition of sulfur or other equivalent "curatives." These additives modify the polymer by forming crosslinks between individual polymer chains. Vulcanized material is...
with sulfur at a temperature of 165 degrees Celsius and at a pressure of 80 atmospheres (1,175 psi). The Super Ball has an amazingly high coefficient of restitution
Coefficient of restitution
The coefficient of restitution of two colliding objects is a fractional value representing the ratio of speeds after and before an impact, taken along the line of the impact...
. Dropped from shoulder level, Super Balls snapped nearly all the way back; thrown down by an average adult, it can leap over a three-story building. Toys similar to a SuperBalls are more generally known as bouncy ball
Bouncy ball
A bouncy ball, power ball or super ball is a popular polybutadiene rubber toy ball which rebounds proportionally to the amount of force used when thrown at a hard surface. The first such ball was the proprietary Super Ball. The Sky Ball is an example of another bouncy ball...
s, a term which covers other more or less similar balls by different manufacturers with different formulations.
History
After Stingley invented the synthetic rubber, he tried to find uses for it and someone to manufacture it. He offered his invention to the Bettis Rubber Company (for whom he worked at the time). They turned it down because the material was not very durable. So, he took it to the toy company Wham-OWham-O
Wham-O Inc. is a toy company currently located in California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack and the Boogie board....
and they worked on developing a more durable version. This version is still manufactured by Wham-O
Wham-O
Wham-O Inc. is a toy company currently located in California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack and the Boogie board....
.
"It took us nearly two years to iron the kinks out of Super Ball before we produced it." according to Richard Knerr
Richard Knerr
Richard Knerr was an American inventor best known for marketing the Frisbee and Hula Hoop. In 1948 he cofounded the company Wham-O with Arthur Melin . In 1957, an Australian visiting California told them offhand that in his home country, children twirled bamboo hoops around their waists in gym class...
, President of Wham-O. "It always had that marvelous springiness.... But it had a tendency to fly apart. We've licked that with a very high-pressure technique for forming it. Now we're selling millions." Knerr continued.
When the SuperBall was first introduced, it became a fad
FAD
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. FAD can exist in two different redox states, which it converts between by accepting or donating electrons. The molecule consists of a riboflavin moiety bound to the phosphate...
. Peak production was over 170,000 superballs per day. By December 1965 over six million had been sold, and US Presidential adviser McGeorge Bundy
McGeorge Bundy
McGeorge "Mac" Bundy was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the Ford Foundation from 1966 through 1979...
had five dozen superballs shipped to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
for the amusement of the staff. Knowing that fads are often short-lived, Wham-O Executive Vice-president Richard P. Kerr said "Each Super Ball bounce is 92% as high as the last. If our sales don't come down any faster than that, we've got it made." Initially the full size Super Ball sold for ninety-eight cents at retail, by the end of 1966 it's colorful miniature versions sold for as little as ten cents in vending machines.
In the late 1960s Wham-O made a "giant" superball, roughly the size of a bowling ball, as a promotional stunt. It fell from the 23rd story window of an Australian hotel (or some reports say, from the roof) and destroyed a parked convertible car on the 2nd bounce.
The composer Alcides Lanza
Alcides Lanza
Alcides Emigdio Lanza is a Canadian composer, conductor, pianist, and music educator of Argentinian birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1976. As both a composer and performer he is known as an exponent of contemporary classical music and avant-garde music...
, in his composition Plectros III (1971), specified that the performer should use a pair of Superballs on sticks as mallets with which to strike and rub the strings and case of a piano. Lanza purchased several SuperBalls in 1965 as toys for his son, but soon he started experimenting with the sounds they made when rubbed along the frame or strings of a piano. Several years later, Plectros III resulted.
After watching his children play with a Super Ball, Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt was an American sportsman and promoter of American football, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey in the United States and an inductee into three sports' halls of fame. He was one of the founders of the American Football League and Major League Soccer , as well as MLS predecessor the...
, founder of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
, coined the term Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." Although the leagues' owners decided on the name "AFL-NFL Championship Game," the media immediately picked up on Hunt's "Super Bowl" name, which would become official beginning with the third annual game.
Physical properties
According to one study "If a pen is stuck in a hard rubber ball and dropped from a certain height, the pen may bounce to several times that height." If a superball is dropped without spin onto a hard surface, with a small ball bearing on top of the superball, the bearing rebounds to a great height.The "rough" nature of a Super Ball makes its impact characteristics different from otherwise similar smooth balls. The resulting behavior is quite complex. The superball has been used as an illustration of the principle of Time Reversal Invariance
T-symmetry
T Symmetry is the symmetry of physical laws under a time reversal transformation: T: t \mapsto -t.Although in restricted contexts one may find this symmetry, the observable universe itself does not show symmetry under time reversal, primarily due to the second law of thermodynamics.Time asymmetries...
.
A superball is observed to reverse the direction of spin on each bounce. This effect depends on the tangential compliance and frictional effect in the collision, it cannot be explained by rigid body impact theory, and would not occur were the ball perfectly rigid. (Tangential compliance is the degree to which one body clings to rather than slips over another at the point of impact.)
High school physics teachers use Super Balls to educate students on usual and unusual models of impacts.
Patent
Further reading
- Frauenfelder, Mark; Sinclair, Carla; Branwyn, Gareth; Kreth, Will editors. (1995). "The Happy Mutant Handbook: Mischievous Fun for Higher Primates". New York, Riverhead Books (Penguin Group). ISBN 1-57322-502-9, pg..134-136