The Trajectory of a Baseball

Created and Presented By: Yuvraj Khaira,

Shalin Adhvaryu, and Mustafa Sayed

Question
How do different substances, such as Pine Tar, Vaseline, Dirt,

and Spit, affect the trajectory and movement of a baseball pitch

in relation to a standard unaffected pitch in centimeters?

Aerodynamics of a Pitch
A baseball pitch has four major forces to it:
Drag
Weight
Lift
Spin

Of the four, drag and weight are the two forces that are

impacted the most by foreign substances

These four forces can be explained and we can understand
why the MLB has banned foreign substance
The forces and movement of a baseball is most similar to an
airplane.

Drag
Drag is simply how air resistance effects the a moving

substance.
It can be seen by the difference of velocity at two different
distances.
A baseball already has more drag than a normal spherical
object due to the stitches around the ball.
The extra substance would increase the drag on the baseball,
which therefore would decrease the speed of the baseball.
A foreign substance would affect drag more than any of the
other forces on a baseball.

Weight
An added substance on a baseball will also

obviously affect the weight of the ball.

While it seems like such a small amount, in the
precision needed in pitching, it is a big deal.
A baseball rotates around the center of gravity
which is the center of all the weight of the ball.
An added substance would change the center of
gravity mid flight, which would change the
direction and movement of the ball.

Lift
Lift is a force that acts in the direction perpendicular to the

direction of the movement.

A spinning baseball creates a lift that is not only
perpendicular to the direction but also to the axis of rotation.
Lift is affected by the variables:
Radius of the ball (constant at 229235 mm)
Spin of the ball
Velocity of the ball

Spin
The spin of the ball affects the curve of the pitch
If there is more backspin on a ball, the ball usually tends to

go a higher during the course of its flight.

If there is more topspin on the ball, the ball tends to dive
when it goes farther in distance
Spin is not affected by a foreign substance and is only
affected by the motion and handle of the ball by the pitcher.

Pitching Machine

Hypothesis

Materials
Access to baseball field
Pitching Machine
25 Baseballs
Dirt (found in infield)
1 stick of Pine Tar
1 bottle (24 oz) of Vaseline
Box of Latex Gloves
Spit
Wooden Board (at least 17 inches by 2 feet)
100 sheets of Carbon Paper
5 markers of different colors
Standard Tape Measure
Scotch Tape

Materials
This is the pitching machine
that we used in this
experiment. (Courtesy of
Oakland University)

Materials
This the bucket of
baseballs we used in this
experiment. (Courtesy of
Oakland University)

Procedure
1. Acquire Materials
2. Draw a 2 feet long by a 17 inch wide rectangle (strike

zone) on the wooden board and then cover the entire

board with carbon paper using scotch tape
3. Place pitching machine on pitchers mound directly
behind the pitchers plate

Procedure
4) Place wooden board perpendicular to the back of home

5)
6)
7)
8)
9)

plate, with the 17 inch by 2 feet rectangle, facing the

pitching machine
Place a normal baseball into the pitching machine and
set the speed to 70 mph
Launch ball
Label the spot where the first pitch hit on the carbon
paper
Using the same ball, repeat for 80 and 90 mph
Do 5 trials (use a different ball each individual trial)

Procedure
Put on your latex gloves and cover them with Pine Tar
Rub the ball with the gloves covered in pine tar
Place the ball into pitching machine at 70 mph then launch
Using same ball, repeat step 6, for 80 mph and 90 mph
Do 5 trials and remember to label each pitch (use a different
ball each individual trial)
15) Throw away the used latex gloves
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)

Procedure
16) Repeat steps 10-15 for Vaseline and Dirt
17) For Spit, have the SAME person spit twice into a pair of

latex gloves and rub the baseball

18) Repeat steps 12-15 for Spit
19) Draw a coordinate plan (the entire strike zone) on the
carbon paper and the board
20) Calculate the center of each individual pitch mark and plot
the center as the point of the pitch

Data

This is the data we got after

creating our coordinate
plane and plotting the
center of each individual
pitch.

Average Coordinate Point

Calculation

Standard

Pitch 1

Pitch 2

Pitch 3

Pitch 4

Pitch 5

(.5,-.5)

(1,1)

(1,.5)

(1.5,0)

(.5,1)

Average Coordinate Calculation:

X= (XP1+XP2+XP3+XP4+XP5)/5 = (.5+1+1+1.5+.5)/5 = 1
Y= (YP1+YP2+YP3+YP4+YP5)/5 = (-.5+1+.5+0+1)/5 = .5
Average Point is (1,.5)

Distance from Standard

Pitch Calculation
70 MPH Pine Tar Average Point (inches) (2.5,1)

70 MPH Standard Pitch Average Point (inches) (1,.5)

Use Distance Formula to find the Distance
D=((X -X )^2)+((Y -Y )^2)
D=((2.5-1)^2)+((1-.5)^2)
D=1.5811
=1.5811*2.54
=4.0161 cm
P

Data

Experimental Explanations
The results of the experiment conclude that Pine Tar, Spit,

Dirt, and Vaseline do change the trajectory of a baseball.

Of the four substances, Vaseline changed the trajectory the
most, Pine Tar was the second farthest from the standard pitch,
Spit was third, and dirt was the closest to the standard pitch.
Realistically, if a pitch is thrown in the center than a foreign
substance doesnt matter. (in terms of whether it will be a
strike or not)
However, if a pitch is toward the outer edge of the strike zone
than, it can be the difference between a strike and a ball

Research Connections
The aerodynamics of a baseball show that an added substance

should affect the trajectory of a baseball pitch.

There is more drag on the baseball as the increased substance
makes the baseball less spherical.
More weight is added to the ball so the center of gravity
changes while the ball is in the air.
There is natural lift on the baseball that occurs due to the
backspin of the baseball. This is usually unaffected by any
added substance.
The spin of the baseball is barely affected by an added
substance and is not visible in the data

Reasons for Error

Experiment was done inside and most baseball games are

played in the outdoors. This means there is a shift in air

pressure.
The pitch is not always at the exact speed that is set.
Data was taken to the closest half inch
The pitching machine has other substances left on it which
could cause of mixture of two substances
The dirt that was used in the experiment was not the same
type of dirt used in major league stadiums
The amount of Spit used wasnt constant

Real World Connections

Foreign substances are a big part of baseball
In fact many baseball players say that it is a part of the game

and that they dont mind it when opponents use foreign

substances because they do as well
While Pine Tar is the most popular, baseball players use
many different techniques to give themselves an advantage.
This experiment can tell us which substance is the best to
use if you want to gain that competitive advantage

Expanding Experiment
This experiment can be done with many different pitches
In this experiment, only fastballs were used at three different

speeds.
In future experiments, different types of pitches can be done
such as curve balls, knuckleballs, sliders, and changeups etc.
If these pitches showed results similar to ours, than one
could conclude that Vaseline is the best substance to use
while pitching