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I don't know if it will work, but when dropping the balls, I wonder if they would tend to follow the same path if you rifled them, that is,  put some rotational spin on them.  In baseball, a spinning ball is easier to control that a "screw ball"/ i.e. one that doesn't spin so much.  With no rotation on a baseball, it can go anywhere when thrown, and usually does.  Thought hard to hit by a batsman, it is even harder to through for a strike. 

As I said, I don't know if that will work, but give it a try and see. 


On Sep 18, 2012, at 1:53 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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> 
> Good Afternoon Andrew,
> Your demonstration reminds me of an "experiment" conducted very late one evening in the late 1960s at a well-respected, university (which will -- for now -- remain nameless)  Several engineering students in my dormitory, were discussing transfer of energy and the Law of Conservation of Momentum -- while consuming w-a-y too much coffee...... when one student said that dropping a bowling ball off the nearby football stadium would be an interesting experiment.  If my memory serves me correctly, the bowling ball was dropped off the top of the football stadium, it landed below on a concrete plaza and it then quickly bounced upwards to an unbelievable height.... then, as  the bowling ball was returning for its second trip to the concrete plaza, it hit a curb, and glanced off the curb in a westerly direction -- away from the stadium, thankfully missing the parked cars.  The bowling ball was recovered, not worse for the wear, and we all were duly impressed by observing such a memorable experiment.
> Thanks for the reminding me of the memory,
> Wesley
> Wesley S. Creel
> Administrator of Programs
> Pink Palace Family of Museums
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> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Spence, Andrew J
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 12:22 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Large scale astroblaster demonstration
> 
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> Hello,
> 
> We here at the Kentucky Science Center are developing a science demonstration on the physics of falling and bouncing. The approx. 20-min show is conducted on our 3rd floor balcony and features dropping a variety of objects through our 40-ft atrium. For one of the elements we're attempting to show the transfer of energy and the Law of Conservation of Momentum by launching a small ball on top of a basketball. In our many trials we've only been able to perfectly align the balls once and have a small ball zoom past us to hit the ceiling of the building. Usually the balls will slide apart during the fall and either fail to make contact or launch at unpredictable angles.
> 
> Any suggestions out there for making our own astroblasters? The set of four balls on the plastic stick commonly seen in science supply catalogs is too small for our demonstration. This doesn't even need to be a row of four balls-two that can stay aligned and illustrate these principles would be great.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Andrew
> 
> Andrew Spence
> Visitor Experience Coordinator
> Kentucky Science Center
> Telephone: (502) 561-6100 ext. 6112
> Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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> 
> 
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