Bouncy ball

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"Super Ball" redirects here. For the game on The Price Is Right, see Super Ball!!.
Various bouncy balls.
Various bouncy balls.

A bouncy ball is a popular toy which rebounds proportionally to the amount of force used when thrown at a hard surface. A typical bouncy ball can keep around 90% of its kinetic energy in one rebound.

In the United States, they are often sold from bulk vending machines for 25 cents. These vending machines can be found in a variety of venues from grocery stores, department and strip shops, malls to nearly any place that will attract a large number of people with intentions of spending money. Occasionally, they are even sold in restaurants (usually family themed ones). Since bouncy balls are often sold alongside candy, there have been instances of customers mistaking them for gumballs and almost choking on them. This has been recognized and addressed by the increase in size of some bouncy balls (some have doubled in size from the originals), yet retaining the same price. It should be noted however, that price may vary from machine to machine, ranging anywhere from a quarter to as high as a dollar. They vary from different colors and designs. They are exported from China to England and The United States of America.

SuperBall (originally "Super Ball") is an example of a bouncy ball invented by Norman Stingley, and manufactured by Wham-O in 1965. It is an extremely elastic ball made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic rubber polymer polybutadiene, vulcanized with sulfur at a temperature of 165 °C (329 °F) and at a pressure of 80 standard atmospheres (1,200 psi). The Super Ball has an amazingly high coefficient of restitution. Dropped from shoulder level, Super Ball snapped nearly all the way back; thrown down, it could leap over a three-story building.

After watching his kids play with a Super Ball, Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League, coined the term Super Bowl.[1].

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[edit] References

  1. 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

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rex W. Huppke (2007-01-30). Legends of the Bowl (html). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-01-31. “Lamar Hunt, who died in December, coined the term Super Bowl in the late 1960s after watching his kids play with a Super Ball, the bouncy creation of iconic toy manufacturer Wham-O.”

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