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Quinn Merrick

Mrs. Stevens

Life Science

31 January 2018

How Does the Amount Of Air In a Volleyball Affect the Distance Of Your Serve?

Did you know that volleyball is played by more than 800 million people a week? If you

are one of those 800 million people, wouldn’t you want to know the best air pressure to keep

volleyballs at? This paper will give you the answers to make your serve go the furthest based on

the amount of air pressure. This project tests volleyballs with different air pressures to discover

which air pressure gets you the greatest distance when playing volleyball. There is a lot of

science behind this sport, and you can find out about it in my paper.​ I hypothesized that, If I have

ten people serve volleyballs with low, medium, and high air pressure and measure the distance

that the balls go, then the ball with the greatest air pressure will go the farthest.

How Does the Amount Of Air in a Volleyball Affect the Distance Of Your Serve?

When Serving a Volleyball, What Will Make Its Distance Greater?

The main thing a player should focus on if they want to achieve a serve with great

distance, is to increase the speed of their arm swing (Miller). It also helps to remember that

when you are in the stance to serve, shift from your back foot to your front foot to reach the

needed amount of power to get a great distance (Voices). A final tip is to remember that when

serving a volleyball you should aim for “heaven and not hell.” This means that you should serve

upward instead of towards the ground to get a good distance (Kessel). Science can also be

applied when serving a volleyball. For instance, We can use Newton’s second law to make the
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serve go farther. It says that if a force acts on an object, the object’s motion will change.

Therefore, if you imply more force on an object (the volleyball,) its motion will change and it

will go farther (Smith).

What Is the Recommended Amount Of Air In a Volleyball and Why?

Different sizes of volleyballs require different amounts of air pressure. An indoor

volleyball size five should have the air pressure of 4.3-4.6 psi. An outdoor volleyball should have

the air pressure of 2.5-3.2 psi. Finally, a youth volleyball should have the air pressure of 4.3 psi.

A youth volleyball has a lesser amount of air pressure in order to help children get the ball over

the net (Popelka). If the ball has too much air pressure, then it will be hard to pass. If a ball has

too little air pressure, then it won’t travel the way it’s supposed to. This is why it is important to

use the recommended amount of air pressure.These air pressures are recommended to make sure

the ball has an easy and fluid movement. It is recommended to use a psi gauge to get the most

accurate measure of air pressure (Popelka).

How Does Air Pressure Affect a Volleyball?

Just like a soccer ball, volleyballs will go farther with more air pressure in them. Distance

will always be increased when air pressure is increased. The reason for this is because of what

the air pressure does to the ball’s shape. Proper inflation fills the shape and puts it in the best

condition possible. The force you make on the ball will impact it more if it is firm rather than

under-inflated (Parrish). The air pressure in the ball also affects how the ball hits your arm and

how it travels when you pass it. This also applies to other sports such as basketball and to bicycle

tires (Parrish).

How Does the Amount of Air Affect a Volleyball’s Bounce?

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The more air there is in a volleyball, the higher it will bounce. If the volleyball doesn’t

have enough air, then it won’t bounce much at all. If a volleyball has too much air, its bladder

can burst and it will become inoperable. A basketball also has a bladder. Air affects a basketball

in the same way as a volleyball. It is important to keep the air pressure accurate to achieve the

best bounce possible (Hutchinson).

What Are Volleyballs Made of, and How Does That Relate To How They Hold Air?

The famous volleyball consists of three different parts: the outer shell, the core, and the

panels. The outer shell can be made of either real leather or fake leather. The core, also called the

bladder, is made of rubber. The outer shell is glued to the inner lining. The eight panels help to

keep the ball intact. This relates to how they hold air because each part is made so that it can be

lightweight, but not fly away with the weight of the air (Popelka).

How Is the Distance Of a Projectile Measured?

To calculate the distance a projectile travels before it is shot, you use the linear motion

equation which is d = vt. D is the distance, v is the speed, and t is the time. In this experiment the

serve distance will be measured after it has landed. At the landing point, the distance from the

end line to the landing point will be measured (Projectile). In this experiment, the volleyball

court is 60 feet long. This means that the serve can land anywhere from 30 feet to 60 feet across

the court (Some).

I hypothesized that, ​If I have ten people serve volleyballs with low, medium, and high air

pressure and measure the distance that the balls go, then the ball with the greatest air pressure

will go the farthest. ​My results concluded that the more air pressure you put in a volleyball, the

farther it goes. For the low ball, the average distance was 30 ft 9 ⅛ in. The average distance for
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the medium ball was 33 ft 1 ½ in. Finally, the average for the high ball was 34 ft. and 9 inches.

In conclusion, with a high pressure ball you get about 2 more feet of distance compared to a

medium pressure ball. You also get about 5 feet more of distance with a high pressure ball

compared to a low pressure ball. ​The ball with the greatest air pressure went the farthest out of

the low, medium, and high air pressures that were served by 10 different people.
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Works Cited

Hutchison, Patrick. “Does Air Pressure Affect the Bounce of a

Basketball?”LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 11 Sept. 2017,

www.livestrong.com/article/411163-does-air-pressure-affect-the-bounce-of-a-basketball/​.

Kessel , John. “Top Ten Serving Secrets .” Team USA, USA Volleyball , Feb. 2013,

www.teamusa.org/-/media/USA_Volleyball/.../ServingSecrets11611.pdf?la...+Cached+T

op+T​.

Miller, Bob. “Serving .” The Volleyball Handbook, Human Kinetics, 2005, pp. 44–50.

Parrish , Rogue. “How Does the Air Pressure of a Soccer Ball Affect the Distance It Goes When

Kicked?” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 11 Sept. 2017,

www.livestrong.com/article/412822-how-does-the-air-pressure-of-a-soccer-ball-affect-th

e-distance-it-goes-when-kicked/.

Popelka , Jiri. “Volleyball Ball | Everything You Need To Know About Volleyball

Balls.”VolleyCountry, Volley Country , 26 Aug. 2017,

volleycountry.com/training/volleyball-ball-everything-need-know-volleyball-balls.

“Projectile Motion .” Santa Ana Unified School District , pp. 2–10.,

www.sausd.us/cms/lib5/ca01000471/centricity/moduleinstance/8024/physics_ii.pdf​.

Smith, Alastair. “Energy, Forces & Motion.” Energy, Forces & Motion, EDC Pub., 2002, pp.

24–25.

“Some Regulations.” A Simple Guide To Volleyball, Ana Devine , 2008,

iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall08/Devine/rules.html.
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Voices, April Chapple Volleyball. “10 Steps to the Perfect Serve.” ACTIVE.com, Active

Network , 13 Apr. 2011,

www.active.com/volleyball/articles/10-steps-to-the-perfect-serve​.