Re: why is it easier to balance a baseball bat with the heavy end up?

Dear John,

Greetings from Ohio to SLO. I spent a summer there at the University. You
have a lovely place to live. But you wanted to talk about bats.

First of all, you need to know that a baseball bat is not a weeble, and it
will not balance by itself. So, I want you to think about what you do to
make a bat balance …. If I’m not mistaken, you move your hand to get in
front of the bat when it starts to fall. This makes the bat straighten up
on your hand again. So why does it matter which end is up?

The center of mass is near the fat end. With the fat end up, that makes it
farther above your hand. Gravity will try to pull the c.o.m. down; but that
only happens at a certain rate. You already know that any object will take
longer to fall if it starts higher. So with the big end up, the falling
over is slower; and that gives you a little more time to react to changes. 

In addition, by your holding the small end, you are gaining a mechanical
advantage (Think of the bat as a lever with the c.o.m. being the fulcrum.)
and will need less force to compensate.

As a test, try placing a clamp or other mass on a meter stick and doing the
balancing act. Start with the mass at the center. Notice that turning it
over makes little difference. Then move the mass gradually to an end and
try the reversals again. You might even find some other objects to test …
hammers, large screwdriver, tapered candle. Or think of some other object
and notice if this is consistent with what you’ve found to be true with bats.

Have fun experimenting,
Gene Ewald