ZhadowFox Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Well, to get things started, our teacher suggested this idea to us : "Do your project on baseball. For example, in Colorado's Rookies stadium, more home runs are hit there than any other stadium in the United States. This has been proven. Can you hypothesize as to why this is the case? This would involve Biology and Physics."Guidelines for our project state that we do not have to perform an actual experiment. For all our teacher cares, we can collect a variety of data, analyze it and then present our findings and interpretations of it. He also said that this project can realistically be done within one weekend. "If a group spends the majority of Saturday and Sunday dedicated to this project , that would be enough time to finish this within the requirements."My group mates have tomorrow off but due to conflicts this weekend and last weekend, we could not get together to work on it. We plan on spending all of tomorrow working on researching and putting together some sort of presentation for this project. We also can stay every single day after school and/or at whatever library need be next week. The project is due on Friday. Yes we are well aware that we probably got too much of a late start on this but we looked at our hours and calculated that this can be done within that time if we put the effort forth.My question is, is this project idea plausible or should we redirect our course to something easier? I assumed that it couldn't get easier than this since we don't have to perform an actual experiment/lab.P.SIt should also be noted that I have already researched how baseball is related to biology / kinesiology / physics etc etc. Colorado is 1mile elevated above sea level so that would effect the air pressure there. That would probably in turn effect player performance. If not player performance, then that would effect how the ball travels through the air, what happens when the ball hits the bat, if there is a noticeable change between a ball hitting the bat in Colorado due to different air pressures as opposed to other cities. Etc etc. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Center Field Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I would say go for it! As long as you have access to all the materials, research, sources, and logistics that you will need, it is a good idea. Just remember to be original in your argumentation!And yes, theoretical G4's are easier, if you do it right! My group did a research based argument; science research is interesting!Explicitly put, your topic is plausible! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZhadowFox Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 How would we put together a question to hypothesize on though? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Center Field Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Well I do not think that I am allowed to give you an answer, but think about what type of factors affect the flight path of a baseball. For example air density, biological factors dealing with the ball/bat, chemical factors dealing with the bat...I mean there are loads of ideas here. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZhadowFox Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) Alright. That helps. We just needed a catalyst to get us moving in the right direction. I believe we can think up some ideas based on that tomorrow. We can piece together the research on Wednesday and Thursday as a group and work on the backboard Thursday night.Snippit of the findings so far. Trying to figure out how we are going to piece the rest of this together however. Going to ask the teacher tomorrow how we should/can go about relating the data/fats/graphs together in relation to Coor's field.This project was suggested by our teacher himself so he should be able to give us a lot more direction on where to head with this. Granted we have a fair amount, i think, of research done. Again, since we don't have to actually perform a lab/experiment, that significantly cuts the time needed to finish the project into reasonable amounts.Planning as of now =Tuesday --> Gather up All the other relevant research and piece together how we are going to connect all of this into a G4 project and form a hypothesis as well as a question under the guidance of our teacher.This will all be done before school, during school, and after school.Wednesday --> Perform the connecting of all the data. Putting all the puzzle pieces in place so to speak. Tying up loose ends etc etc.Thursday --> Repeat of Wednesday + Getting the backboard layout looking good and fancy.Friday -> turn in the project.* biology * chemistry * physics * environmental science--> what type of factors affect the flight path of a baseball. For example air density, biological factors dealing with the ball/bat, chemical factors dealing with the bat.Colorado - More homeruns are hit here than any other stadium in the United States. When the air is thinner (at high altitude) pitching techniques like curve ball and knuckle ball will be less effective,so the batter will get a direct hit of the ball more of the time => more home runs.A batter will also be able to hit the ball further in thinner air.Climate -the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.Elevation - Colorado is the "highest" state in the United States. 1 mile above sea level.Coors Field - Denver ColoradoPhysics -There are plenty of forces in baseball that take affect.In order to strike out the batter, the pitcher has to apply a force to the ball. The speed and velocity of the ball is then determined by the pitcher. A pitcher can apply many different types of forces that cause the ball to do different unique things. For instance a pitcher can apply a force to the ball so that it sinks right as it gets close to the batter, making the batter think he will be able to swing at it. This is known as the curve ball. The pitchers arm acts like a lever giving him mechanical advantage allowing him to increase his force. Some pitchers can pitch a ball consistently at 99mph.You can think of the ball like a spring. The ball comes into the bat, compresses against the bat and then the ball changes direction and expands back into its original shape. The forces that act on that bat are in the range of 6,000-10,000lbs and happened in the time span of 1/1000 of a second. This is a very violent collision. That is also why in the major leagues a baseball is used for an average of 4-5 pitches. Every time a ball is hit it gets deformed from all the force that is applied to it. The ball actually compresses to about an inch. In this process a lot of energy is lost. It is lost into the form of heat, friction, sound and vibrations. These vibrations are also known to have broken bats. When the ball collides in the areas that cause more vibrations, the batter will know! These vibrations cause a stinging sensation, however if the batter hits the ball right in the sweet spot, located about 5 inches in from the bat, then less or no vibrations are caused and more energy goes into the ball causing it go a further distance.Environmental [climate]-Situated at an elevation of one mile, the thin air at Coors Field allows for significantly longer flight trajectories. Dr. Robert Adair (author of The Physics of Baseball) estimates that a fly ball hit 400 feet near sea level would, if hit equally hard, travel about 420 feet in Denver. Thus, it is (somewhat) easier to hit a home run over the center field wall at Coors Field (415 feet) than at a typical near-sea-level stadium with a 400-foot distance to center field-The other force acting on a fly ball is the frictional force. Here, the friction is due simply to the ball rubbing against air molecules as it sails through the air. Friction acts to slow down a baseball and keep it from carrying as far as it would in a complete vacuum.The frictional force is not the same in all stadiums. The density of air decreases rapidly with increasing altitude. Decreasing density means fewer air molecules to rub against a soaring baseball, and a longer fly ball. Coors Field in Denver is at an altitude of about 1600 meters above sea level. This is almost one mile above sea level; in fact, the 20th row of seats in the upper deck at Coors Field is exactly one mile above sea level. Because of this, the air density there is about 15% less than at most other major-league stadiums.Biology - Edited February 22, 2011 by Desy ♫ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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