baseball bat debate: wood vs. aluminum by: christopher merone, michael indelicato, and richard...
TRANSCRIPT
Baseball Bat Debate: Wood Vs. AluminumBy: Christopher Merone, Michael
Indelicato, and Richard Centra
Hypothesis:
We, as a group, hypothesized that the Aluminum baseball bat will be more advantageous in the game of baseball rather than a wooden baseball bat.
Compare and Contrast: Wooden Bat and an Aluminum Bat:
Aluminum: Hollow core Doesn’t break, might
dent. Easier to swing Less sting on player’s
hands when contact is made.
Bat weight is evenly distributed.
Wood: Plastic core Will break, which affects
the rate of the game. Harder to swing. More maintenance such
as: applying pine tar or tape in order for the player to get a clean grip.
More sting. Top heavy.
Where the ball usually landed after we hit with the wooden baseball bat. (outfield grass line)
Where the ball usually landed after we hit with an aluminum bat. (throughout the mid-outfield to deep outfield)
Starting point
Key:Where baseballs landed after using the bats.
Methods and Observations: We used trial and error and marked the “sweet spots” of
the bat tape in order to see where the ball landed throughout the baseball bat.
You may be wondering what the “sweet spot” on the ball really is: The spot on the bat that produces the least amount of sting on the player’s hands, when contact is made.
Besides testing which bat would be more advantageous, we tested to see if hitting the ball on the “sweet spots,” would affect the rate at which the ball travels.
Trampoline affect: When a baseball makes contact with an aluminum bat, the bat compresses like a spring at the point of contact. The baseball is not compressed and does not lose energy to friction forces. The trampoline effect returns the energy back to the ball.
DISTANCE NOT ON SWEET SPOT:
Chris1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 115 ft 125 ft 114 ft 123 ft 112 ft 117.8 ft
Aluminum 130 ft 135 ft 132 ft 139 ft 140 ft 135.2 ft
Michael1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 110 ft 112 ft 115 ft 119 ft 110 ft 113.2 ft
Aluminum 132 ft 134 ft 129 ft 136 ft 130 ft 132.2 ft
RJ1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 111 ft 116 ft 118 ft 117 ft 122 ft 116.8 ft
Aluminum 136 ft 135 ft 128 ft 134 ft 135 ft 133.6 ft
DISTANCE OF BUNTING:
Chris1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 2 ft 7 in 2 ft 4 in 3 ft 0 in 2 ft 9 in 2 ft 11 in 2 ft 7 in
Aluminum 4 ft 2 in 3 ft 11 in 4 ft 5 in 4 ft 7 in 4 ft 5 in 4 ft 3 in
Michael1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 2 ft 3 in 2 ft 5 in 2 ft 5 in 2 ft 9 in 3 ft 0 in 2 ft 6 in
Aluminum 4 ft 0 in 4 ft 4 in 3 ft 10 in 4 ft 3 in 4 ft 6 in 4 ft 1 in
RJ1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 2 ft 8 in 2 ft 6 in 2 ft 3 in 2 ft 4 in 3 ft 2 in 2 ft 6 in
Aluminum 4 ft 2 in 4 ft 7 in 3 ft 11 in 4 ft 7 in 4 ft 3 in 4 ft 3 in
Chris 1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 0.80s 0.83s 0.77s 0.81s 0.82s 0.806s
Aluminum 0.62s 0.61s 0.66s 0.65s 0.60s 0.628s
Michael1 2 3 4 5 Averag
e
Wood 0.84s 0.80s 0.85s 0.82s 0.84s 0.83s
Aluminum 0.63s 0.65s 0.62s 0.61s 0.64s 0.63s
RJ1 2 3 4 5 Average
Wood 0.82s 0.85s 0.85s 0.86s 0.87s 0.85s
Aluminum 0.61s 0.64s 0.65s 0.63s 0.70s 0.646s
Time of swings
Conclusion: After much testing and note taking, we
have proven our hypothesis to be correct, that an aluminum baseball bat, is in fact, more advantageous.
We enjoyed performing our experiment, and we hope this project was a help to many player’s who want to fulfill their task of playing baseball, on the highest of levels.