Physics Blog 2: Golf

A few weekends ago, I went golfing with some family friends at Mid-Pacific Country Club. Searching my mind and my camera for an idea for this blog, I came across the pictures from that day and was struck by the physics that were obviously involved in golf. In terms of what we're learning now, the golf ball leaves the tee when struck on a vector; in other words, it has both magnitude and direction. This picture is of my friend's dad on the driving range and shows the swing involved in getting the ball going:



Here is a close-up of what happens when the driver contacts the ball as it sits on the tee:



In this picture, it looks as if the ball is taking off at an angle of maybe 20 degrees with the ground. I don't have a way of measuring things like the initial x or y velocities based on this picture, but with my knowledge I would estimate that the ball leaves the tee with an initial overall velocity of about 80 meters per second. Once in the air, the y-velocity of the ball is constantly subjected to the acceleration of -9.8 meters per second squared provided by gravity. However, the x-velocity remains constant the entire time. The ball ends up following a roughly parabolic path; I say roughly because wind and air resistance factor into the actual path the ball takes in the air. Thus, recognizing physics concepts at work in golf is easy once you're familiar with them.