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Friday 1st July 2005: Issue 28

It’s game, set and match in the Wired-Up newsletter this week as we ‘serve’ up a treat of an issue to celebrate Wimbledon 2005. Here’s what’s coming up:

  1. Try This – An experiment with tennis balls, no rackets required!
  2. Wired Bytes – We answer a science stumper email, which luckily didn’t bounce!
  3. SciNet – Surfing the Net in style with Wired-Up...
  4. Rib Busters – Oh dear, another round-up of jokes that are sure to make you groan!
1. Try This – Exciting experiments for you to try at home...

First up, is an experiment with tennis balls and if you try it, we promise you won’t get tennis elbow!

What You Need:

  • Normal, rubber tennis ball
  • Sponge tennis ball – the same size
  • Your hands!
  • An unsuspecting victim – parents always make good experiment victims!

What You Do:

  1. First, ask your ‘victim’ to feel the difference in weight between the two balls.
  2. Next, hold the rubber tennis ball in your left hand and hold the sponge tennis ball in your right hand.
  3. Stretch your arms out straight in front of you with your palms facing the floor, whilst still holding the balls.
  4. Ask your ‘victim’ which ball will hit the floor first. Your victim will probably reply that they think the rubber ball will hit the floor first because it is heavier than the sponge ball.
  5. Release the balls from your hands at the same time.
  6. To the astonishment of your ‘victim’, the balls will hit the floor at roughly the same time!

What’s Going On?

Light and heavy objects all fall at the same rate. It’s all to do with how the force of gravity behaves. Galileo was probably one of the first thinkers to look closely at how things fall to the earth. He was born in 1564, in Pisa, Italy. There is a legend that says he climbed to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, with two cannonballs. The cannonballs were the same size but one was lighter than the other. The story goes that Galileo dropped the two cannonballs over the side of the tower to prove that they would hit the earth at the same time. Let’s just hope there was no-one standing underneath whilst he was doing this experiment!

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2. Wired Bytes – It’s Your Corner of Wired-Up...

Last month, Planet Science received this science stumper from one of our subscribers:

Dear Planet Science,

What I want to know is: why do tennis balls bounce?

From Gerry (age 12).

Thanks for your question, Gerry! Let’s get the ball rolling for an answer...

Underneath the yellow fur, a tennis ball is made from rubber and it is hollow inside. The air inside the ball is at a slightly higher pressure than the air outside the ball. The higher air pressure makes the ball bouncy because when the ball hits the floor, it pushes the side of the ball inwards. The rubber wants to return to its original round shape so it pushes back against the floor. The result propels the ball upward and into the air. The higher pressure inside the ball speeds up this process so the tennis ball bounces even higher.

As tennis players hit the balls, the air inside the balls escapes – making them less bouncy. This is why you often hear tennis players shouting for “New balls!” throughout the game.

If you’ve got a science question that you’d like Wired-Up to answer in a future issue then please email: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘SCIENCE STUMPER’ as the subject.

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3. SciNet – You don’t have to surf the Internet alone...

Anyone for tennis...websites? Here are our top three tennis sites to hit this summer:

In at number one has to be the official Wimbledon website, which you’ll find by clicking here: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html

You can read up-to-date information about the two-week tennis tournament, find your favourite tennis player, watch webcams and take virtual tours. Jolly good!

Next up is the CBBC Newsround site Wimbledon special: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/sport/wimbledon/default.stm

This is the place you’ll find information about the star players, tennis quizzes and games. You can even take part in Wimbledon debates or vote on the players you think will win!

Finally, this wouldn’t be a Wired-Up newsletter without a bit of fun, so click here: http://www.funny-games.biz/ace_tennis.html and you’ll find yourself on your very own tennis court, battling it out against the computer! This game may take a while to load so prepare some strawberries and cream while you’re waiting – in true Wimbledon-style!

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4. Rib Busters – A round-up of Wired’s favourite groaners...

Finally, we’ve been rained off court here at Wired-Up so there’s only enough time to end the newsletter with some tennis-related jokes:

Q) What did the tennis ball say when it got hit?
A) Who's making all the racket?

Q) Why should you never marry a tennis player?
A) Because ‘love’ means nothing to them!

KNOCK, KNOCK!
Who’s there?
TENNIS!
Tennis, who?
TENNIS FIVE PLUS FIVE!

Q) What’s a horse’s favourite sport?
A) Stable tennis!

Q) Where do ghosts play tennis?
A) On a tennis corpse!

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THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

Got Wired-Up? Got clued up!

Don’t forget that Wired-Up will be hitting your inboxes every fortnight from now on, but in the meantime, send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk

Until then, why not pay the Planet Science website a visit, by clicking here:
http://www.planet-science.com

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