Physics of the Golf Drive Essay -- physics sport sports golf

This paper examines the physics involved in driving a golf ball off the tee. The objective of a drive is to achieve the greatest distance while leaving the golf ball in the middle of the fairway. Several factors will be considered in achieving the longest, and most accurate drive. The factors include calculating the velocity of the golf ball after the club and ball collide, the mass of the club head, launch angle, the shape of the club face, and finding the optimal golf ball. Intuition tells us that the larger the velocity of the club head at impact with the golf ball, the larger the velocity of the golf ball after the impact. To calculate the velocity of the golf ball we need to consider the relationship between the velocity of the club head to the velocity of the golf ball. If the collision between club head and ball were elastic we would be able to use Conservation of Mechanical Energy and Conservation of Momentum to determine final velocities of club head and ball after collision, but the golf ball undergoes some deformation at time of impact, thus some energy is lost. A simple test of bouncing a golf ball on a solid surface shows that the golf ball does not return to it's initial height. The elasticity of a ball (e) is equal to the proportion of the velocity before collision to the velocity after collision. If the collision was elastic, e = 1. If the collision was perfectly inelastic, e = 0. The value of e is between 0.70 and 0.80. In order for there to be a collision the initial velocity of the club head must be greater than the initial velocity of the golf ball. Also for there to be separation, the final velocity of the golf ball must be greater than the final velocity of the club head. Thus the eq... ...ar Application to Golf.† The Physics of Sports. By Angelo Armenti, Jr. New York: AIP Press, 1992. 71-76. 2 Daish, C. B. The Physics of Ball Games. London: English Universities Press, 1972. 3 Kim, Kevin. Shut Up and Play. 23 Nov. 2002 . 4 MacDonald, William M., and Stephen Hanzely. â€Å"The Physics of the Drive in Golf.† American Journal of Physics 59.3 (1991): â€Å"213-218†. 5 Penner, A. Raymond. â€Å"The Physics of Golf: The Convex Face of a Driver.† American Journal of Physics 69.10 (2001): â€Å"1073-1081†. 6 - - -. â€Å"The Physics of Golf: The Optimum Loft of a Driver.† American Journal of Physics 69.5 (2001): â€Å"563-568†. 7 Serway, Raymond A., Robert J. Beichner, and John W. Jewett, Jr. Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing, 2000.