What ’ s the Connection to Softball? Observation The players, ball, and bat move around during a game of softball. Question What forces are acting upon the player and ball at any given time during a game of softball?

Hypothesis I think that there are forces acting upon a player and ball at any given time during a game of softball because there is a lot of movement and change of direction.

Experiment For my experiment I have to find out if there are forces involved with playing the game of softball. Don ’ t forget that movement shows that there are unbalanced forces. Observe a game of softball to see if there are any forces acting upon the player or ball at any given time. If there are forces present, which ones?

On the Mound Acceleration -the pitcher must move forward to get the maximum power and get more speed. Inertia -it takes energy to throw a pitch because inertia (Newton ’ s 1 st law of motion) wants to keep the ball and player at rest. Gravity -always keeps the players relatively close to the ground and always pulls the ball toward the ground.

At the Plate Acceleration -batter must turn at least 45 degrees to get enough power to hit it past the infielders. Inertia -the batter must overcome inertia so that the batter can hit the ball in a different direction. Gravity -pulls the ball towards the ground making it so the players can field the ball, and it pulls the bat towards the ground when the batter drops it to run the bases.

In the Field Acceleration -the player must move in a different direction to be able to field the ball. Inertia -the player must over come inertia to be able to move to get to the ball. Momentum -when the ball is fielded the player is advised to move in the direction of the base they are throwing to because the momentum from the moving will carry over into the ball and help it travel faster.

Round the Bases Acceleration -batter must increase their speed to be able to make it the first base safely. Momentum -once past the base it would be easy to keep running without any extra energy. Deceleration -if going to 2 nd or 3 rd base the runner must run fast then decelerate very quickly so they do not overrun the base, but still make it before the ball gets there.

Conclusion At the beginning of this experiment I asked my self “ Are there any forces acting upon the ball and player during a game of softball? ” My hypothesis stated that I thought there were forces acting upon both objects because there is a lot of movement. My experiment proved that my hypothesis was correct. Movement shows the presence of unbalanced forces and I was able to identify which force it was by it ’ s characteristics. There are at least four forces present during a softball game. Acceleration (Deceleration), which was when something sped up, slowed down, or changed direction. Inertia: Newton ’ s law that states something at rest will stay at rest or something moving will stay moving unless acted upon by an outside force, applies to almost any movement whatsoever. Gravity is always pulls anything that is made up of matter toward the ground, keeping the players on the field and the field intact. And finally momentum, which helps matter travel faster as long as it is moving. To sum it all up there are 4 forces that can act upon the ball and player during a softball game.