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Re: [Phys-l] TV technology, the World Series and physics



Wow! Very cool! I might start watching baseball again! :) Anything
to make any sport more "fair" would be helpful. I'm all for instant replay
on "questionable" calls as umpires/referees are only human.
But to really make the game of baseball more fair, all parks should be the
same size. Baseball statistics are inherently not very meaningful.

Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
Last night while watching one of the best opening games of a World
Series, I was introduced to a relatively new piece of TV technology which
literally made me shout (with joy). The ultra high speed camera has been
outfitted with IR capability, and they set it to very high contrast
(B&W). They used it mainly to show the foul tips that would hit the
batter or the catcher. What made me shout was what would happen to the
ball when it was hit by the bat. It lit up (in IR) like a light bulb
being turned on--exactly what it should do, but it's always exciting to
see the experiment. Fairly quickly, it faded, but when it hit a player,
the spot of impact would light up also. This is some HOT (or cool?)
technology.

They were able to use it to show that a hit ball really did hit TX batter
Adrian Beltre on the foot before it made its way to the 3rd baseman who
threw to 1st for an out. This is where truth and reality depart (in some
way): truth --the ball hit the batter's foot so it was truthfully a foul
ball; reality -- the umpire missed the foul, the ball was called fair,
and the out was recorded. Umpires are part of the game, plus the 3rd
base umpire did NOT see compelling evidence to consult. Umpires calls
determine the course of the game. I like the technology, but I don't
want to slow the game with instant replay.

I hope that we can get these videos for our physics classes to show the
thermal energy reality of collisions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_ED96gIzalg

Go to 1:28 for the best look.
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Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l