A new book series, The Science of Baseball, Volumes 1 & 2, has arrived from Schottenbauer Publishing! This book series is available from CreateSpace, Amazon, and other internet retailers.
This book series contains graphs relevant to baseball and softball. The first two volumes focus on video analysis of balls and bats under common conditions. Graphs show trajectories from various points of origin, with time plotted against x and y variables. Topics for Volumes 1 and 2 include the following:
Volume 1 Topics
- Trajectories of Plastic Balls from Pitching Machine
- Hardball
- Softball
- Pop Fly
- Grounder
- Lateral Drift Due to Wind
Volume 2 Topics
- Comparison and Contrast of Balls & Bats
- Bats
- Balls
- Official Baseball
- Safety Baseballs
- Plastic Baseballs
- Softball
- Wiffle Ball
- Balls falling and rebounding from bats & concrete
- Balls rebounding from plywood set at angles
- Bats hitting balls on a stationary tee
These books are suitable as a supplement for class projects in math, physical science, physics, and physical education. Ideas for lesson plans can be found in the blog Graphs in Education.
A new edition of Bounce, Roll, & Fly: The Science of Balls has arrived! The Sampler Edition contains graphs of 24 sport balls as they bounce, roll, and fly through the air, including three baseballs (official, safety, plastic), a basketball, a cricket ball, a dodge ball, a football, three golf balls (official, foam, plastic), a hackeysack, three hockey balls (field, low-density street, high-density street), a kickball, a lacrosse ball, a ping pong ball, a racquetball, a rugby ball, a soccer ball, a softball, a tennis ball, a toy ball, and a volleyball. This is undoubtedly the best book in the series, because it is coordinated with three YouTube videos showing the balls in motion, bouncing, rolling and flying!
The graph below is excerpted from Bounce, Roll, & Fly: The Science of Balls: Sampler Edition.
Discussion Questions
- How many times does the baseball bounce?
- From what height is the baseball dropped?
- Write one or more equations describing the motion of the ball.
- What is the potential energy of the baseball in the beginning? At the peak of each bounce? In the end of the graph?
- What is the maximum velocity of the ball? The maximum momentum?
Understanding graphs such as the one found above can be enhanced by viewing free YouTube videos on the publisher's site. These videos allow students to compare the motion of the balls visually as they travel in space. Students might be asked to watch the videos first, and estimate the performance of the balls visually before examining the graphs. For instance, which ball bounced highest?
Books related to ball sports from Schottenbauer Publishing include:
Graphs & Data for Science Lab: Multi-Volume Series
- Bounce, Roll, & Fly! The Science of Ball Sports
- The Science of Hockey (Field, Street, & Ice)
Anthologies of 28 Graphs
- The Science of Ball Sports
- The Science of Summer Olympic Sports
- The World in a Graph
