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Wind up for a great pitch into understanding key physics concepts utilizing the all-American game of baseball. Complex physics concepts are illustrated within the familiar context of everyone's favorite game.
The Pitch
The Pitch takes a look at gravity, air drag, and the Magnus force—three forces controlling trajectory once the pitcher releases the ball—and how the pitcher can use these forces to manipulate the path of the ball. (6:30)
The Hit
The Hit focuses on kinetic energy, the coefficient of restitution, and Newton's laws of motion, as well as how both the quantity of energy or speed and mass changes as a result of the batter hitting the ball. (6:30)
Running the Bases
While base running is strictly between the runner and the clock and has nothing to do with the forces between the bat and ball, there's still plenty of physics to explore. Running the Bases takes a look at the concepts of force, mass, inertia, and acceleration. (6:30)
The Flight
The Flight takes into consideration perfect projectile motion, launch angle, air drag, turbulence, temperature, air density, and the Magnus force—all the factors that go into sending a baseball from home plate over the fence more than 350 feet away. (6:30)
Visit the 108 Stitches Web site.
Four 7-min. programs
Grades 6–12
©2004
Available on VHS and DVD. |
