The Physics of Baseball: "You Can Observe A Lot By Watching"
Following Yogi's advice, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Illinois Alan Nathan will use high-speed video clips to highlight some of the interesting physics underlying the game of baseball. The talk will focus on the subtleties of the baseball-bat collision, the intricacies of the flight of a baseball, and many other things. I will investigate some very practical questions and show how a physicist goes about trying to answer these question. Some examples:
What is the"sweet spot" of a bat?
How does the batter's grip affect the batted ball?
Why does aluminum outperform wood?
What determines how far a fly ball travels?
How much does a curve ball break?
What's the deal with the knuckleball?
Dr. Nathan's talk should have something for everybody, whether your interest is baseball, physics, or the connection between them.
