Baseball Bat Debate: Wood Vs. AluminumBy: Christopher Merone, Michael

Indelicato, and Richard Centra

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.

Compare and Contrast: Wooden Bat and an Aluminum Bat:

Aluminum: Hollow core Doesn’t break, might

dent. Easier to swing Less sting on player’s

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.

Diagram referring to last slide:

Where the ball usually landed after we hit with the wooden baseball bat. (outfield grass line)

Where the ball usually landed after we hit with an aluminum bat. (throughout the mid-outfield to deep outfield)

Starting point

Key:Where baseballs landed after using the bats.

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 player’s 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.

 

 

DISTANCE NOT ON SWEET SPOT:

Chris1 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    

Michael1 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      

RJ1 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

 

 DISTANCE OF BUNTING:

Chris1 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

  

Michael1 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

 

RJ1 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

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

  

Michael1 2 3 4 5 Averag

e

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

  

RJ1 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

Time of swings

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 player’s who want to fulfill their task of playing baseball, on the highest of levels.

Any Questions?

Baseball Bat Debate: If there are not any more questions: Thank-you for your time!

Christopher Merone, Michael Indelicato, and Richard Centra