MadSci Network: Physics |
Calculated momentum conservation assumes that the collision between bat and ball is perfectly elastic, that is, that no energy is dissipated in friction or deformation of either the bat or the ball. In the real world, that is not so. Slow-motion films of a ball-bat collision in a typical baseball game show significant inelasticity: the ball deforms, the bat (and ball) absorb some of the collision energy as frictional heating, and so on. This means that, if you take real-world measurements of momentum transfer in a ball-bat collision, you will observe significant deviations from the calculations (which assume perfect elasticity). Remember that an "elastic" collision is one in which the colliding objects DON'T deform; billiard balls, for example, undergo near-perfect elastic collisions in which momentum is transferred in its entirety. Notice that when a cue ball strikes another ball dead-on, the cue ball stops. Its momentum has been entirely transferred to the other ball. Dan Berger MadSci Administrator
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Physics.