Physics of Sports Video

Our task

For my second project of STEM class, my group, Jake Simpson, Ivan Rudoi and I, were assigned to come up with a sport or a movement idea and explain the physics behind it by making a video. We started to brainstorm ideas and since we all liked sports, we decided to go with the idea of finding the physics behind hitting a baseball. After finalizing on our idea, we then assigned each other tasks to do in order to gather the right information for the video. So Jake was in charge of making the video clips, Ivan was in charge of his own voiceover for the intro of the video and I was in charge of editing the video. We all pitched in as a team halfway through and worked on the calculations so no one misses out on the physics and math behind it. If anyone one of us needed help, we would all pitch in to help each other or give some advice to at least help the problem.

Final Product

Overall, I think our final video went really good. We included explanations of the calculations behind the contact of the baseball, gave examples of pro players hitting a homerun and explained the stance and hip positioning at the end. The video was about 2 minutes which was an exceptional time and in my opinion I think the video is entertaining because of the cool background music. I'm proud of my teammates for cooperating with each other and completing this project with not as much problems.

Physics of Hitting a baseball video script

Ivan: "In this example, we can see the baseball player in a batting position, waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball at him. When he sees the ball being launched, he swings the bat with as much force as possible and hits it. After the ball is hit, it travels far because of the high impact it received after contacting the baseball bat."

Jake: "The ball was in the air for a total of 1.73s and traveled around 40m. The vertical velocity was 10.78m/s. The horizontal velocity was 23.12m/s. The total velocity is 26m/s. The force of impact on the ball was 3,770N or that's equal to 850 lbs."

@kio: "In our video example of hitting a baseball, you can see that the bat is flexed back and pushed forward creating the high number value of the Force of Impact. With correct posture and a firm stance, you can use a lot of momentum with the swing to gather enough force to hit the ball for a long distance."

@kio: "For correct positioning, you should have your legs sturdy and about shoulder width apart. With your hips turned, you can use your outside leg to step into the swing so you can increase the carried momentum and the velocity of the ball."

@kio: "Thank you for watching our video and I hope that this video will help you when you play baseball and understand the physics behind the sport at the same time."

Storyboard

Scene 1: Intro Voiceover

Scene 2: Professional player example of hitting a baseball

Scene 3: ex 2

Scene 4: Show example video of hitting a baseball

Scene 5: Explain calculations

Scene 6: Explain calculations

Scene 7: Explain calculations

Scene 8: Explain calculations

Scene 9: Description of slowed down version of video example (The angle of hit/launch)

Scene 10: Description of positioning before hitting the ball

Scene 11: Outro

Final Video:

Physics of hitting a baseball video.mp4

Content:

Vertical Velocity

the velocity of a falling object going up or down
measured in meters per second or m/s
equation = dv=1/2Ag(t fall)^2
Vv of hitting the baseball = (9.8m/s^2) (1.1s) = 10.78m/s

Horizontal Velocity

the average speed on a flat surface with no outside forces
measured in meters per second or m/s
equation = Vh= dh/t
Vh of hitting the baseball = 40m/1.73s = 23.12 m/s

Total Velocity

Vertical and Horizontal velocity combined
measured in meters per second or m/s
equation = Pythagorean theorem or c= square root of a^2 + b^2
Total Velocity of hitting a baseball = 23.12^2 + 10.78^2--> 535 + 116 = 651---> 651 squared = 26m/s

Force of Impact

force occurs when more than one object collides with each other
measured in Newtons or N
equation = mv=Ft
Force of Impact of hitting a baseball = 0.145kg(26m/s)=F(0.001s)---> 3,770N or 850lbs

Total air time:

measured from frames per second (fps) to seconds (s)
Total air time for hitting a baseball: 52fps/30fps = 1.73s

Time fall

measured in seconds or s
tfall for hitting a baseball: 52-16 = 36/30 ---> 1.1s

Time up

measured in seconds or s
tup for hitting a baseball: 1.73s - 1.1s = 0.63s

Calculations

Reflection

Overall, I think I did really well on this project and it was fun working with my group. My group didn't really talk to each other much and rarely got off topic which was a good thing because we were all dedicated into finishing the project. This project brought out an interest to me which is editing. After completing this project, I felt really interested in editing because it felt good creating a video for my team with entertaining music and aesthetic transitions.

Another thing I was proud of throughout this project is my leadership skills. During this project, I lead my teammates most of the time by asking them if they want to be assigned towards a specific role, answered every question if either one of them asked and commanded in a non-demanding or mean way to turn their assigned task in. I also didn't act as a leader all the time but on most occasions. For example, sometimes my teammates would ask me if I turned my task in, making sure that I'm on task and them being a leader themselves by making sure we're on the right track. I hope I can carry on with this same outlook in my future projects to come.

This project was more focused and on task then I thought it would be. I want to work on my communication skills because most of the time, I didn't know what my teammates were working or if they needed help. Since we were all working on seperate parts, the breakout room was mostly quiet due to a lack of communication effort. I can work on this skill by starting off the conversations with greetings or asking questions such as, "How was your weekend?" or "What do you guys like to do for fun?"

In conclusion of this reflection, the project was a total success and the only thing that could've been more exciting is to getting to know my teammates better outside of school because who knows, one of us may have a relation or interest in the same topic or activity.

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