Science+Fair+Lit.+Review+PP

=Science Fair: Review of Literature =

 This experiment is about one simple question. Do corked bats really hit farther than normal wood bats? To answer this question you have to understand how a bat hits a ball. The distance the ball travels all depends on it's reaction to the bat.

 The ball is carried a certain distance based on momentum. Momentum is a simple scientific law. Momentum is how much resistance it takes to stop an object. Momentum is based of the following equation. (Momentum)

Mass x Velocity = Momentum

 As you can see it's about how much an object weighs and the speed in which it's traveling. And as we all know, hitting a ball consists of a baseball being pitched at a batter. Then the batter swings his bat to make contact with the ball, and this sends the ball flying. Now let's break this action down. In the case of hitting both objects have momentum. The baseball is traveling very fast, let's say 90 mph, and the baseball also has a certain weight, 5 ounces. Now the batter has to swing his bat fast enough to match or exceed the baseball's momentum. The batters bat weighs let's say 27 ounces, now this exceeds the baseball's weight by a lot, but that doesn't mean swing speed has too. Obviously a batter can't swing the bat 90 mph, let's say he swings 50 mph, but since his bats weight is so much more it makes up for it. Now if you substitute your numbers for the equation above you'll see the batter has more momentum.In this particular situation the baseball would fly of of the batter's bat, this is assuming the batter makes contact.

Baseball's: 5 x 90 = 450 Batter's: 27 x 50 = 1350

Now this all affects the experiment in a huge way. The whole premise surrounding the use of a corked bat is based off of a few basic principles. "One of those principles is that a corked bat is lighter implying that the batter can swing the bat faster, and this would make the batters momentum level much higher." (Skyline, Buzz) This would obviously allow the batter to hit the ball much farther with the corked bat, right? Wrong, because for what you get you must give, you have the higher bat speed but a lower weight. "When you cork a bat it loses a few ounces, the amount varies, but all in all it means you can swing the ball faster raising your velocity. But the lowered weight means less mass so which one wins?" (Russell, Daniel A., Ph.D.) Different tests show different results, some groups have tested the corked bat and found it hits farther to equal the distance of a normal wood bat. Others however, have found that the corked bat hits the ball a dramatically shorter distance to a slight drop in distance. (Solomon, Christopher) It is very unclear which variable has a greater impact on the overall outcome.

There is also another principle involved in corking a bat. This principle is based on the fact that corking a wooden bat changes the bat’s inertia, which drastically affects the bat. First, you must understand what inertia is. "Inertia is an objects tendency to change direction. An object with more mass has more inertia." (Momentum) Inertia is based around Newton’s First Law of Motion, “An object at rest will stay at rest this effectively means that with a corked bat, which has less mass than a normal bat, and an object in motion will stay in motion unless an outside force acts upon it.” This means that without an outside force an object will always keep doing whatever it’s doing without any variation. To stop a moving object you must apply a certain amount of force to it. The amount of force that is needed to stop the ball varies based on an objects mass. The amount of force needed to change that objects current state is that objects inertia. (Momentum)

How does inertia affect a corked bat? Corking a bat lowers it’s mass in turn lowering its inertia. When the bat has a lower inertia it means that the batter can one the bat can be swung faster. There is also a belief that corking a wood bat means that the bat is given trampoline effect. This means that when a corked bat hits a ball it gives slightly and then springs back to it's original form. This if it were true would give the ball an extra kick sending it flying much farther. "This theory however is not true as the wood used to make bats is to rigid and does not give when it comes in contact with a small baseball." (Skyline, Buzz)

The hitting machine used in this experiment is very made up of a few basic parts. It involves a wooden base, a hinge for the bat to swing on, and a spring back that propels the bat at a constant speed every time. There is a group of college students from Washington State University, and they created a state of the art hitting machine. Their machine was very high end and advanced. "It involves: an air cannon and carriage for firing a ball at a bat, a box of light screens to measure ball speed and batted ball speed, and a pivot that holds the ball stationary but allows it to turn on impact with a bat." (The Machine That Shatters Baseball Myths) This machine is used as a standard bat testing machine now. (The Machine That Shatters Baseball Myths) This experiment uses a much simpler machine, but it has the same basics as the standard one. It is simpler and instead of the ball being fired at the bat, the bat swings to hit a ball. = = = **Works Cited**: = "The Machine That Shatters Baseball Myths." //Popular Mechanics//. Popular Mechanics, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. <[]>.
 * This is an article from the reputable Popular Mechanics Magazine.

"Momentum." //Florida Science.// New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2005. 201-05. Print.
 * This is the 8th grade textbook.

Russell, Daniel A., Ph.D. "What about Corked Bats?" //What about Corked Bats? //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Penn State University, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. <[]>.
 * This is a reputable site because it's contents are from a published paper by a well know scientist. This site also truncates back to Penn State University's website.

Skyline, Buzz. "Physics Buzz: Corked Bats, Juiced Balls and Humidors." // Physics Buzz: Corked Bats, Juiced Balls and Humidors //. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. URL?
 * It comes directly from the American Physical Society. It also links to Myth Busters and the well known book The Physics of Baseball.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Solomon, Christopher. "Smithsonian.com." //Smithsonian Magazine//. Smithsonian.com, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. <[]>.
 * This is a reputable site because it's an article from Smithsonian Magazine.