Senior Theses
Publication Date
5-1-2014
Document Type
Thesis (Open Access)
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Physics
Department
Physics
Faculty Advisor(s)
Jennifer Heath, Joelle Murray, & Tianbao Xie
Subject Categories
Physics
Abstract
In baseball, bats made of metal are designed to perform like bats made of wood. To test how similarly they actually perform, both types of bats were used by hitters in a batting cage off of a pitching machine. The pitching machine's velocity could be adjusted as needed. A radar gun was used to measure the velocity of a batted baseball. The exiting velocities of balls hit with metal and wood bats were compared. The natural bending modes were also analyzed to compare the size of each sweet spot. It was discovered that when missing the sweet spot the bats performed similarly, but, when the sweet spot was hit, the metal bat performed significantly better.
Recommended Citation
Lindell, Kramer, "Comparison of the Performance of Metal and Wood Baseball Bats" (2014). Senior Theses. 11.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/physstud_theses/11
