Bouncing Balls: Collisions, Momentum & Math in Sports
Students examine how different balls react when colliding with different surfaces, giving plenty of opportunity for them to see the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions, learn how to calculate momentum, and understand the principle of conservation of momentum.
What happens when a baseball collides with the bat?Copyright Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1983 – 2001.
Sports engineering is becoming a popular specialty field of study. Some engineers dedicate their research to understanding collisions between balls and bats; others study the effects of a golf ball colliding with the head of a golf club. Mechanical engineers consider momentum and collisions when designing vehicles. Learning how the human body and equipment interacts with the ball during impact or how the human body interacts with the inside of a car during a crash, helps engineers design better sports equipment and safer vehicles.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand that momentum depends on both mass and velocity.
- Recognize that difference surfaces and materials promote different types of collisions.
- Collect data to solve equations.