Bounce or Splat?

Jolena and Billy both like games and other activities where they have to move their whole bodies. They like to go for hikes or play outside in the snow, but it is very cold today. They don't want their vinyl to freeze. They will have to play indoors.

They have decided to play with a ball. They have a tennis ball and a place where they are allowed to play with it.
The kitchen has a nice, hard floor, so the ball will bounce. The dolls are small, and the cabinets are very big, so the ball won't go very high unless they throw it up high, and they know not to do that. They don't want to hit something that might break or make a mess.

Fly-swatter hockey is a favorite game.

They use fly swatters for hockey sticks, and a plastic food container for the goal.

They also like to play basketball, a game where you bounce the ball on the floor and try to get close to the basket, so you can toss the ball in. The plastic container will make a good basket, but they will need to put it on something high up.

"You know," said Billy. "I've been wondering what makes the ball bounce."

"That's an interesting idea," Jolena agreed. "If you drop an egg, it goes splat and makes a mess. If you drop a glass on the floor, it usually breaks, and that's hard to clean up, too. I wonder why the ball bounces instead of breaking."

"I think that's a Mandy question," Billy suggested. 
"I think you're right. Let's go ask her," Jolena agreed.
The two dolls went to find Mandy. They found her in the living room. She was reading a book.

"Mandy, we have a question," Jolena began.

"Yes," Billy agreed. "We were playing with the ball, and we wondered why the ball bounces. Maybe it has a kangaroo inside!" Then Billy giggled, because he knew a kangaroo wouldn't fit inside the tennis ball.

Mandy smiled. She is used to Billy's silliness. The dolls think Billy's silliness is fun. Then Mandy took off her reading glasses and put them on her head.
"I think this will be a long answer," Billy told Jolena, as they climbed up on the chair to sit on each side of Mandy.

"I'm glad you brought the ball along, Billy," Mandy said. "It will help me explain. First, try to squeeze the ball between your hands. What does it feel like?"

Billy squeezed the ball as hard as he could.

"It sort of bends if you push hard," Billy said, handing the ball to Jolena.

"Yes, it squishes, but when you let go, it goes back into shape," Jolena agreed.
"When you bounce a ball, the speed of the ball puts energy into it as it heads toward the floor," Mandy explained.

"The floor stops the speed and the ball squishes out of shape where it hits the floor," Mandy continued. "Then the ball goes back into shape again. That going back into shape pushes the ball back into the air, so the ball bounces. It's like when you bend your knees before you jump."

"Then why do some things break instead of bouncing?" Jolena asked. "If you drop an egg, it doesn't bounce. It just goes splat and makes a mess."
"Ah-ha!" Mandy exclaimed. "I can drop an egg, and it won't go splat and make a mess. It won't bounce like a ball, but it but it won't go splat."

Jolena and Billy looked at each other. They didn't think this was possible.
"Let's go back into the kitchen," Mandy suggested. "I'll show you, and it will help you understand why some things break and some don't, and why some things bounce."
Mandy went to the refrigerator. She found a carton of eggs and also a little dish with some eggs in it. 

Billy and Jolena helped Mandy take all the eggs out and put them up on the counter. Mandy opened the carton. "These eggs are raw," she said. "What happens if you drop one on the floor?"

"That's easy! It will go splat and make a mess," Billy said.
"Yes, so I don't have to show you," Mandy agreed, "and that's good, because then we would have to clean it up, and the egg would be wasted." Mandy showed them the little dish with more eggs in it. "These eggs are boiled. They were cooked in their shells," she said.

Then Mandy took one of the eggs from the little dish. She stood up and dropped it. It didn't bounce, but it didn't go splat, either.

Then Mandy picked up the egg. The shell was cracked where it hit the counter. 

Mandy held the egg so that Billy and Jolena could see the cracks in the egg.

"See?" Mandy said. "It didn't bounce, but it didn't go splat, either."

Next she carefully removed the shell. "Now watch this," she said standing up. Mandy took up and dropped the egg on the counter again. It gave a tiny bounce and then stopped at her feet.

"Can you guess why the boiled egg didn't go splat?" she asked.
"Well," Billy said, "cooking the egg must have changed it."

"Yes," said Jolena, "instead of being liquid, the boiled egg is rubbery," she suggested. "The liquid egg can't keep its shape, so it goes splat, but the cooked egg is more like the ball."

"That's right," agreed Mandy. "The cooked egg mostly keeps its shape, but not enough to keep the shell from breaking. That's because the shell is brittle, it's both hard and thin, so it cracks or breaks instead of bending, and the cooked egg can still be squished a little, like the ball. The boiled egg squishes when it hits the counter, but then it goes back into shape."
"The ball bounces much better, though," Jolena said. 
"Yes," Mandy agreed. "The egg is rubbery, and it's not as hard as the ball. It's softer. When it goes back into shape, it doesn't have as much energy. That energy is what makes the ball bounce."
"The ball is better to play with because it bounces nicely, too," Billy suggested. "The egg bounced to one side, not back up."
"Is that because the egg isn't round?" Jolena wanted to know.

"Very good!" Mandy said. "Yes, you can guess where a round ball will go when it bounces, but a different shape can go in different directions, depending on what part of the shape hits the floor."

Then Mandy took another cooked egg out of the dish. "I want to show you another fun thing about eggs," she said, handing the egg to Billy. "Give the cooked egg a spin, Billy," she said. Billy put the egg on the counter and twisted it quickly.

The egg spun quickly around and around on the counter, finally slowing to a stop. "It spins almost like a top," Billy said.
Then Mandy took a raw egg out of the carton and gave it to Jolena. "Now watch what the raw egg does. Give it a spin, Jolena," Mandy said.
Jolena put the egg on the counter and twisted it quickly. The egg turned very slowly. It didn't spin much at all.

"It sort of wobbles," Jolena observed.
"It doesn't spin well, does it?" Billy added.
"Why do you suppose that is?" Mandy asked the dolls. "Why does the cooked egg spin fast and the raw egg just wobble?"
"It must have something to do with why the raw egg splats if you drop it and the cooked egg doesn't splat," Billy suggested.

"Yes," Jolena agreed, "because the raw egg is sort of liquid inside, and the cooked egg is solid."

"Maybe the solid inside just keeps going when you spin the egg, but the liquid just swishes around?" suggested Billy.
"You are both right." Mandy said. "The cooked egg is solid, so doesn't move inside the shell. The uncooked egg sloshes around inside the shell, almost like water in a bottle. The sloshing keeps the egg from spinning evenly and fast. You are very smart dolls," Mandy added, "and now you know how to tell whether the eggs are cooked or not, even if the cooked eggs are in the carton and the raw eggs are in the little dish."

"One more think I want to know," said Jolena. "Why do things fall when you drop them? Why don't they go up, instead of down?"

"Yes," said Billy. "I was wondering about that, too."
"Well," Mandy said, "I think you've learned enough for one day. We'll have a chat about it later on."

With that, Mandy got down off the kitchen counter, washed off the boiled egg she had removed from its shell, and put all of the eggs back into the refrigerator, while Jolena and Billy used some cleaner to wash the counter, because they had been up there with their shoes. Then Mandy went back into the living room, put her glasses back on her nose and picked up with her reading where she had left off.

"Tomorrow, I think I need to read up on gravity," Mandy said to herself.

Cast--
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily of London
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015


Game ideas came from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as Cure Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation.
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart