Can you hit a baseball farther when hitting with a wood or metal bat?

A Golf ball would be hit further, due to the law of the conservation of momentum. This law is one of the fundamental laws of nature, and states, "The total momentum of a closed system of objects is constant." This means that when two objects (like a bat and a ball) collide, the momentum of both objects before the collision and after the collision will be the same.

Momentum, by the way, is the amount of force a moving object has. Big objects that are moving fast have a lot of momentum. Small objects that are moving slow have very little momentum.

The equation for a collision of two objects goes like this:

(1/2)m1u12 + (1/2)m2u22 =(1/2)m1v12 + (1/2)m2v22

Let's work on this equation...

m1 = The mass of the Baseball bat = 30 oz

u1 = The velocity of the baseball bat before the collision = 80 mph for a Major League player swing

m2 = The mass of the ball = 5 oz for a baseball, 1.6 oz for a golfball

u2 = The velocity of the ball before the collision = 0 mph

v1 = The velocity of the bat after the collision = 0 mph (not entirely accurate, but close enough for this model)

That leaves...

v2 = The velocity of the ball after the collision

v2 is what we want to find. Let's start plugging in numbers. First, for the baseball:

(1/2)m1u12 + (1/2)m2u22 =(1/2)m1v12 + (1/2)m2v22

(1/2)(30 oz)(80 mph)2 + (1/2)(5 oz)(0 mph)2 =(1/2)(30 oz)(0 mph)2 + (1/2)(5 oz)v22 (96000) + 0 = 0 + (2.5)(v2)2

96000 = 2.5(v2)2

96000 / 2.5 = v22

38400 = v22

v2 (The speed of the baseball after being hit) = 196 mph

Now, for the golf ball. The golf ball weighs less than the baseball, so to make both sides of the equation even, it will need to travel much faster after being hit.

(1/2)m1u12 + (1/2)m2u22 =(1/2)m1v12 + (1/2)m2v22

(1/2)(30 oz)(80 mph)2 + (1/2)(1.6 oz)(0 mph)2 =(1/2)(30 oz)(0 mph)2 + (1/2)(1.6 oz)v22 (96000) + 0 = 0 + (0.8)(v2)2

96000 = 0.8(v2)2

96000 / 0.8 = v22

120000 = v22

v2 (The speed of the golf ball after being hit) = 346 mph!

That's a big difference! And of course, the ball that is hit fastest will travel the furthest, assuming both balls were hit at the same angle.

Now, this is just a model. In real life, the balls or bats may weigh different, and the batters may swing fast or slow. Also, golf balls are much harder to hit than baseballs.

You can try an experiment at home that shows the law of conservation of momentum. Make sure you're outside first! Try putting a golf ball or tennis ball on top of a Basketball or softball. Hold both balls at arms length, and drop them on the ground. The big ball will bounces just a little bit, but since it is big, it has a lot of momentum. When it hits the small ball, it will give that little ball all of its momentum, and the small ball will fly sky high!