Physics of Baseball
The Physics of Baseball
The sport of baseball has been around for over two hundred years, roughly since the 1800s. Invented by a man named Alexander Cartwright. It is known as “Americas past time.” Baseball is the national sport of the USA. The first baseball game played was in New York on June 19, 1845. And is played by thousands of people throughout the years. Much like any sport, it has changed with time. The first rulebook of baseball was issued in 1877. And it has been changing every year since then. It has molded with society. It is said that each baseball game has 12,386,344 possible plays. Thus making it almost unpredictable as to what will happen during those nine innings.
To begin with, it has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do out of all known sports. The two main factors of hitting a ball in baseball is the angle you swing the bat and the speed at which the ball is hit. When the ball makes contact with the bat it has a force up to eight thousand pounds. As for the ball, it becomes ¼ of it’s original size due to the force impacted on it. This process happens so quickly that the ball only makes contact with the bat for approximately 1/1000th of a second! A few key factors that also affect the equation to nailing the perfect swing are: wind speed, the air temperature, the weathers humidity level, and the altitude of where the ball game is being held. When using aluminum baseball bats there is a “sweet spot” which causes the trampoline effect. The trampoline effect is when the ball quickly bounces off the bat and the ball speed is accelerated. The NCAA has invented a new type of bat that essentially eliminates the trampoline effect. Batting is not only a learned skill, but for those who excel at it, it becomes an art form. "I don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher" Said by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. Batting is no
The sport of baseball has been around for over two hundred years, roughly since the 1800s. Invented by a man named Alexander Cartwright. It is known as “Americas past time.” Baseball is the national sport of the USA. The first baseball game played was in New York on June 19, 1845. And is played by thousands of people throughout the years. Much like any sport, it has changed with time. The first rulebook of baseball was issued in 1877. And it has been changing every year since then. It has molded with society. It is said that each baseball game has 12,386,344 possible plays. Thus making it almost unpredictable as to what will happen during those nine innings.
To begin with, it has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do out of all known sports. The two main factors of hitting a ball in baseball is the angle you swing the bat and the speed at which the ball is hit. When the ball makes contact with the bat it has a force up to eight thousand pounds. As for the ball, it becomes ¼ of it’s original size due to the force impacted on it. This process happens so quickly that the ball only makes contact with the bat for approximately 1/1000th of a second! A few key factors that also affect the equation to nailing the perfect swing are: wind speed, the air temperature, the weathers humidity level, and the altitude of where the ball game is being held. When using aluminum baseball bats there is a “sweet spot” which causes the trampoline effect. The trampoline effect is when the ball quickly bounces off the bat and the ball speed is accelerated. The NCAA has invented a new type of bat that essentially eliminates the trampoline effect. Batting is not only a learned skill, but for those who excel at it, it becomes an art form. "I don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher" Said by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. Batting is no