The main reason that I have chosen this topic is because I love baseball. I want to learn more about the physics behind the game and what is happening that the eye doesn’t normally see.
Science Concept
Have you ever wondered how the greatest pitchers throw a curveball and make the ball move mid-air? Or how the best batters hit so many homeruns? It all has to do with the physics that is behind everything that happens in the universe. When a pitcher has a baseball and throws it, it proves Newton’s first law of motion: a body tends to remain in its state of movement or rest unless acted upon by an external force. Using this force, a pitcher can throw a baseball at speeds up to 100 mph. Throwing a baseball through the air creates high pressure in the front of the ball and a lower pressure behind it. This is called Bernoulli’s principle which states that an increase in the velocity of a stream of fluid results in a decrease in pressure. Due to the change in pressure, the air around it moves very quickly creating drag. Drag is created when a solid object is slowed down by a fluid (liquid or gas) which is a form of mechanical energy. Because the ball is not smooth, the stitches in the baseball catch the air and cause it to move in the opposite direction. Using drag to their advantage, a pitcher can throw a curveball with spin and the stitches will catch the air, causing it to swerve on the way to the plate. Newton’s third law of motion states that every action force has an equal and opposite reaction force. When swinging a bat, you’re hoping to get a good hit. But sometimes it is hard trying to hit the sweet spot of the bat. The sweet spot is the spot on the bat that transfers the most amount of energy from the bat to the ball. This is also another example of Newton’s first law of motion. With a greater amount of speed leaving the bat and going into the air, it creates more drag. Using Bernoulli’s principle, the pressure is much higher in the front of the baseball and much lower in the back. The more drag there is, the harder it has to be hit in order to travel the distance needed.
Application
When we all watch baseball, we love seeing our team score and especially hit a homerun. But we never think about the hidden forces that cause the baseball to travel so far. The definition of force, in physics, is the pull on an object with mass causes it to change its velocity. Physics, the science of matter, motion, and energy, helps us to better understand the world we live in and how it works. Famous physicists, like Sir Isaac Newton in the late 17th century, and Albert Einstein in the 20th century, completely changed the view of science and the entire world. In our everyday life, we see force and the effects it gives. Whether we are driving down the road or sitting on our couch watching television, some type of force is at play. There are many different types of force around us such as gravity, magnets, electricity, and friction. In baseball the main forces used are gravity, electrical force, and friction. When a pitcher throws the ball, he puts a certain spin on it to try and fool the batter. While the baseball is in the air, it creates a drag slowly slowing it down. The stitches mixed with the spin and speed, creates a drag that turns the ball in the direction it’s spinning. Once someone has mastered the way to throw a baseball with the right amount of speed, spin, and accuracy, they can trick just about any batter. As the batter, it is your job to get the ball either in play or out of the park. Getting a good hit is a difficult task, between dealing with a different pitch every time, and hitting the sweet spot. The swing has to be fast enough to counter the speed and spin of the baseball from the pitch. Aswell as the angle in which the ball hits the bat has to give enough force to push the ball into the air and carry it over the fence.
Famous Scientist
Robert Adair, a retired physics professor at Yale University, was the first scientist to go into deep study of the physics of baseball. He is most popular for writing many articles and books including his book “The Physics of Baseball” which goes into great depth of how physics relates to baseball. He later died at the age of 96 on September 28, 2020.
Career Path
The main career involving the science behind baseball is physics. A smaller but much needed study to understand the physics of baseball is fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics is the study of the movement of liquids and gasses. A physicist will study the movement, speed, spin, and the air around that affects how a baseball travels through the air.