Baseball's flirtation with technology began in 2005 when PITCHf/x® by Sportvision started to be installed in major league ballparks. Every stadium had the system operational by 2007. Since then, the trajectories of over six million pitches have been measured to within about half an inch using three 60-Hz video cameras to track the position of the…

The classic experiment to measure the drag coefficient involves dropping coffee filters. Wouldn't it be more fun to try something different? In fact, an experiment on the drag force is conducted nearly 4000 times a day during the baseball season and you have free access to this PITCHf/x data!

The sight of a broken bat in Major League Baseball can produce anything from a humorous dribbler in the infield to a frightening pointed projectile headed for the stands. Bats usually break at the weakest point, typically in the handle. Breaking happens because the wood gets bent beyond the breaking point due to the wave sent down the bat created…

As experienced physicists, we see the beauty and simplicity of projectile motion. It is merely the superposition of uniform linear motion along the direction of the initial velocity vector and the downward motion due to the constant acceleration of gravity. We see the kinematic equations as just the mathematical machinery to perform the…

Few plays in baseball are as consistently close and exciting as the stolen base. While there are several studies of sprinting, the art of base stealing is much more nuanced. This article describes the motion of the base-stealing runner using a very basic kinematic model. The model will be compared to some data from a Major League game. The…

The idea of using a dice game to simulate radioactive decay is not new. However, modern pedagogy encourages, if not requires, us to provide multiple representations and visualizations for our students. The advantage of interactive engagement methods also has been made clear. Here we describe a highly visual and interactive use of dice to develop…

The intricacies of Newton's Cradle are well covered in the literature going as far back as the time of Newton! These discussions generally center on the highly elastic collisions of metal spheres. Thanks to the invention of happy and unhappy balls, you can build and study the interaction of less elastic systems (see Fig. 1).

On Aug. 7, 2007, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants was at bat waiting for a 3-2 pitch from Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals. The ball left the pitcher's hand at 84.7 mph and arrived at home plate traveling 77.2 mph. It was within 0.2 in of the center of home plate and 3.213 ft above the ground when Bonds swung and hit his 756th home…

Describes the construction of a demonstration toy consisting of a rotating shaft suspended by a magnetic field with the cost being around $2. (MVL)

Provides instructions for the construction and launch of a two-liter plastic soda-bottle rocket and presents the author's theory of their motion during launch. Modeled predictions are compared with actual experimental data. Explains theory behind the motion of a water rocket during launch. (LZ)

Describes an experiment to measure the acceleration of a bungee jumper. Uses energy considerations to explain this anomalous acceleration and presents experimental results using several different types of ropes and a chain. (JRH)