The Physics Of Baseball

The above images are of my friend Conner getting ready to hit a yellow softball and just moments after he made contact with the ball. This photo was taken on Mulligan Field during my teams’ intramural softball game. In terms of physics, I am going to discuss impulse, linear momentum, and how Newton’s second law of motion relates them creating the impulse-momentum theory. I am also going to discuss how the combined effects of each of these concepts plays an important role in understanding what happens when you hit a softball or baseball and how they lead to solidly striking the ball. To fully understand all that goes into hitting a baseball well, we must define some of the terms and concepts. Impulse is the force of the object multiplied by the time interval in which the force acts. Impulse can be expressed by the equation J=FΔt where J is the impulse, F is the force, and Δt is the time interval. Since impulse, too, is a vector the

There is the force of gravity and the force that is applied to the ball from the bat. After the ball is struck there is only one force acting on the ball, which is the force of gravity in combination with the mass of the ball. This can be seen in the figure

Rene Descartes, a French philosopher and scientist came up with the theory and concept of momentum. Descartes idea of momentum came from his idea of trying to quantify “amount of motion.” That became the purpose of the equation we have today for linear momentum. We do, however, have Sir Isaac Newton to thank for the laws of motion and in this case the second law of motion, which relates impulse to momentum founded in 1966. Isaac Newton’s most famous claim to fame, however, is the theory of gravity that he established when an apple hit him on the head as he was sitting under an apple