Wrecking Ball Science – Will the Bowling Ball Smash the News Anchor's Face?

Who else but Steve shows up at a television studio and makes a request to hang a 16-pound bowling ball from the ceiling? It’s for science, silly, and a lesson in the Laws of Motion.

9News Anchorman Mark Koebrich helped Steve demonstrate energy and motion. When hung on a rope, the bowling ball becomes a pendulum. The ball swings back and forth. If Steve swings the ball and adds energy by pushing it like a kid on a swing, the ball will swing back farther than where it started.

If Steve asks Mark to stand in front of the swinging ball and lets it go, the ball should return only to its starting point and not go beyond it. This demonstrates that you only get out what you put in.

The key is not to move when the bowling ball comes swinging back at your head.

There is a life lesson in this experiment as well – you only get out what you put in.