Wave and Ball Barrier Interaction Lab

Guiding Question:

What happens to a wave as it hits a surface it cannot pass through?
Once a wave hits an object it can't go through, i just bounces back, making a pattern between the waves where they just cross over each other. I made several tests where i saw that the wave made an interesting pattern when it bounced back from the barrier. Once the wave hits the barrier and starts bouncing back, some of the energy of the wave starts decreasing, because of the pressure against the barrier. When a wave meets a barrier and it reflects off the surface of the barrier, some, or most of the waves energy is lost, because of the pressure that is being made against the surface of the barrier. When a wave finds a hole in a barrier, and manages to pass through, it either bends or spreads out, This is called diffraction. Another thing I saw, was that the interference between two waves or more happens, they affect each other.

Does energy (density of the ball) affect the wave’s path?

In my mini lab I noticed that the density of the ball does affect the wave’s path. I used three different types of balls: a medium sized bouncy ball, a light Styrofoam ball, and a small orange light plastic ball. In the experiment the Styrofoam ball and the small orange plastic ball were both every light, the rubber bouncy ball was the heaviest. When I tested the bouncy ball I found that it made the widest triangle when bouncing off the wall.The bouncy ball had the biggest angle of incidence, and angle of reflection.The foam ball made the second biggest triangle when reflecting off of the wall. It had the second biggest angle of incidence and angle of reflection. The small light orange plastic ball made the smallest triangle when we were testing. The small light orange ball had the smallest angle of incidence and angle of reflection. I suppose that this was the lightest or the least dense ball that I had. I noticed that when the ball hit the wall refraction occurred, when it hit the wall the balls slowed down.

How is the angle at which the ball (wave) hit the wall related to the angle at which it bounces back?
As I found in my testing my lab I found that the angle at which the ball hits the wall it comes back at about the same angle. When testing the lab 10 times each one of my results ended up to be the lightest and least dense the ball the smaller the triangle the ball would make after the ball reflected the barrier or the wall. I did a little experimenting with the angles I rolled the wall and found that it would reflect off the wall about the same place every time. I noticed that the incoming "wave" reflected off the wall at the same angle. This is because the law of reflection states that the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. To conclude this lab, I would like to say that it was a very interesting and inventive was to learn how waves reflect of a barrier.