 thumb|a super ball containing particles of glitter, resting on a base. the rubber has yellowed with age. a super ball (aka superball) is a toy based on a type of synthetic rubber invented in 1964 by chemist norman stingley. it is an extremely elastic ball made of zectron which contains the synthetic polymer polybutadiene as well as hydrated silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients. this compound is vulcanized with sulfur at a temperature of 165 degrees celsius and formed at a pressure of 3,500psi. the resulting super ball has a very high coefficient of restitution, and dropped from shoulder level, super balls snap nearly all the way back; thrown down by an average adult, it can leap over a three-story building. toys similar to super balls are more generally known as bouncy balls, a term which covers other balls by different manufacturers with different formulations. ==history== thumb|left|a branded wham-o super ball from 2001 after stingley invented the synthetic rubber, he tried to find uses for it and someone to manufacture it. he offered his invention to the bettis rubber company (for whom he worked at the time).http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/superball.htm they turned it down because the material was not very durable.wham-o super book celebrating 60 years inside the fun factory by tim walsh isbn 978-0-8118-6445-9 so he took it to the toy company wham-o and they worked on developing a more durable version. this version is still manufactured by wham-o. "it took us nearly two years to iron the kinks out of super ball before we produced it," according to richard knerr, president of wham-o. "it always had that marvelous springiness... but it had a tendency to fly apart. we've licked that with a very high-pressure technique for forming it. now we're selling millions." when the super ball was first introduced, it became a fad. peak production was over 170,000 super balls per day. by december 1965 over six million had been sold, and us presidential adviser mcgeorge bundy had five dozen super balls shipped to the white house for the amusement of the staff. knowing that fads are often short-lived, wham-o executive vice-president richard p. knerr said, "each super ball bounce is 92% as high as the last. if our sales don't come down any faster than that, we've got it made." initially the full size super ball sold for ninety-eight cents at retail; by the end of 1966 its colorful miniature versions sold for as little as ten cents in vending machines. in the late 1960s wham-o made a "giant" super ball, roughly the size of a bowling ball, as a promotional stunt. it fell from the 23rd story window of an australian hotel (or some reports say, from the roo
1965_introductions Balls Physical_activity_and_dexterity_toys Rubber_toys Wham-O_brands