What gas is in tennis balls??

[chrischris]

My GF asked me a question last night that i was a bit at odds with .. 'whats inside the tennis balls'? i said i dunno.

[The Meat]

Regular, like what most people use nowadays. Premium is too expensive.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by The Meat

Regular, like what most people use nowadays. Premium is too expensive.

Ba-ZING-a!

Unless things have changed, it's ambient air in most balls. Gamma used to put nitrogen to slow the pressure loss, but I don't know if that's what they do currently.

[jim e]

Well, if your shots really stink, it might be methane!

[ricki]

neon

btw babolat has some ballz with N...

[chrischris]

WTF, noone knows ??? we all use them , yet no clues as to whats inside them .. no wonder we are losing out to the ChineseLOL

[ATP100]

Easy Answer:

Nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen makes up 78.05%, oxygen another 20.95%. The remaining less than 1% is primarily argon, but carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane and krypton are also present.

[The Meat]

Originally Posted by ATP100

Easy Answer:

Nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen makes up 78.05%, oxygen another 20.95%. The remaining less than 1% is primarily argon, but carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane and krypton are also present.

^This, the main compositions of air in the atmosphere

What I can definitely exclude out of the possible gases are: Neon, Hydrogen, and Helium. These three gases would leak out of the rubber walls faster.

My best guess if it were practical is methane gas, doesn't leak out as fast due to it being a molecule and not just an element so its larger. CH4 for those who want to know it's formula.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by chrischris

WTF, noone knows ??? we all use them , yet no clues as to whats inside them .. no wonder we are losing out to the ChineseLOL

The first clue was in post #3. As mentioned later, the composition is virtually nitrogen and oxygen...like the air we breathe. A 'pure' nitrogen use would slow pressure loss slightly and the balls could 'run' a little cooler like race car tires.

[chrischris]

Originally Posted by The Meat

^This, the main compositions of air in the atmosphere

What I can definitely exclude out of the possible gases are: Neon, Hydrogen, and Helium. These three gases would leak out of the rubber walls faster.

My best guess if it were practical is methane gas, doesn't leak out as fast due to it being a molecule and not just an element so its larger. CH4 for those who want to know it's formula.

Practical... 'Natural' gas tennis balls.. da new schajt. LOL

[robbo1970]

Originally Posted by coachrick

Ba-ZING-a!

Unless things have changed, it's ambient air in most balls. Gamma used to put nitrogen to slow the pressure loss, but I don't know if that's what they do currently.

Actually its methane....don't ever cut one, people with think you farted.











Double bazinga.........I don't even care.

[rafazx10]

Would be nice if was some gas that doesnt get much affected by temperature change.

But like said it is probably just air.

[mikeler]

I know what the OP wanted the answer to be.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by coachrick

Ba-ZING-a!

Unless things have changed, it's ambient air in most balls. Gamma used to put nitrogen to slow the pressure loss, but I don't know if that's what they do currently.

Yes, I believe that this is the correct answer. Nitrogen/Oxygen or regular air for most balls. The pressure (for pressurized balls) of a new ball can vary from one manufacturer (or model) to the next. I've seen pressures listed in the range from 1.6 to 1.8 atm (but I have seen some sources indicating only 1.2 atm for a pressurized ball). I believe that Gamma still uses Nitrogen only for many of their products.

http://www.gammasports.com/gamma.cfm?product=922

[The Meat]

Originally Posted by rafazx10

Would be nice if was some gas that doesnt get much affected by temperature change.

But like said it is probably just air.

PV=nRT

The ideal gas law. Temperature always affects pressure and volume negatively or positively, got to hate the laws of nature.

[rafazx10]

Originally Posted by The Meat

PV=nRT

The ideal gas law. Temperature always affects pressure and volume negatively or positively, got to hate the laws of nature.

Yes but some gases expand (increase the ball pressure) more than the other with the same temperature change.
Would be nice to have a more consistent pressure, ball gain a lot of heat when you are hitting, while the others cool down on the court.

[The Meat]

Originally Posted by rafazx10

Yes but some gases expand (increase the ball pressure) more than the other with the same temperature change.
Would be nice to have a more consistent pressure, ball gain a lot of heat when you are hitting, while the others cool down on the court.

I need to one day create pressureless balls that feel and imitate a natural pressured ball's bounce, would make a lot of money off of that.

[SystemicAnomaly]

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[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by rafazx10

Yes but some gases expand (increase the ball pressure) more than the other with the same temperature change.
Would be nice to have a more consistent pressure, ball gain a lot of heat when you are hitting, while the others cool down on the court.

P=nRT/V

What, in this equation, would account for that? Since the Volume of the ball does not change appreciably, everything on the right side of the equation above is essentially a constant except for Temp.

Is it possible that some gasses act more like an ideal gas than others?

[ricki]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

P=nRT/V

What, in this equation, would account for that? Since the Volume of the ball does not change appreciably, everything on the right side of the equation above is essentially a constant except for Temp.

Is it possible that some gasses act more like an ideal gas than others?

gas type and temp are variables, pure nitrogen should be theoretically most consistent.

O2 "permeates" approximately 3-4 times faster than does N2 through a typical rubber, as is used in tires, primarily
because O2 has a slightly smaller effective molecular size than does N2.

source: www.getnitrogen.org/pdf/graham.pdf