Author(s): Matthew Conner , Jonathan Weese , Bishal Paudel

Presentation: poster

Empirically, it is well known that baseball bats have a “sweet spot,” a position on the bat that provides the best possible power and comfort to the batter. The 2010 COMAP mathematical modeling contest asked us to provide a scientific explanation for this phenomenon and determine whether the sweet spot’s effectiveness improves in corked and aluminum bats. To do this, we created an analytical model of a typical Major League Baseball bat, and using the density of wood, determined its approximate center of mass. This could then be used to determine the location where translational and rotational forces cancel, known as the center of percussion. Striking a baseball at this location allows for minimum energy loss. We then extended our model to elucidate the energy transfer of the ball-bat collision at the sweet spot, and referenced other sources to determine the baseball impact location that would minimize energy transferred to the bat’s vibrational modes. To examine the effects of different bat modifications, including aluminum composition and corked bats, we augmented our basic model to fit the desired parameters. Our conclusions indicated an increased sweet spot effectiveness in aluminum bats, but not in corked bats.

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