Baseball Bat Debate: Wood Vs. Aluminum

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Baseball Bat Debate Wood Vs. Aluminum
Baseball Bat Debate Wood vs. Aluminum
By Christopher Merone, Michael Indelicato, and
Richard Centra
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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.

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Compare and Contrast Wooden Bat and an Aluminum
Bat

• Aluminum
• Hollow core
• Doesnt break, might dent.
• Easier to swing
• Less sting on players 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.

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Diagram referring to last slide
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? Where the ball usually landed after we hit with
an aluminum bat. (throughout the mid-outfield to
deep outfield)
? Where the ball usually landed after we hit with
the wooden baseball bat. (outfield grass line)
Where baseballs landed after using the bats.
Starting point ?
Key
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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 players 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.
•  

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DISTANCE NOT ON SWEET SPOT

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Chris 1 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 
   
Michael 1 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 
       
RJ 1 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
 
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 DISTANCE OF BUNTING
Chris 1 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
   
Michael 1 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
 
RJ 1 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
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Time of swings
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
   
Michael 1 2 3 4 5 Average
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
   
RJ 1 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
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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 players who want
  to fulfill their task of playing baseball, on the
  highest of levels.

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Any Questions?
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Baseball Bat Debate If there are not any more
questions Thank-you for your time!
Christopher Merone, Michael Indelicato, and
Richard Centra