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Google AI: a 15% point change in humidity can have a 13.2 ft. change in HR distance

Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:05 am
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:05 am
Some of those longer flyouts to the wall would have been HRs if hit earlier in the day.

quote:

Humidity can have a significant effect on how far a baseball travels, with humid air allowing a baseball to travel farther than dry air. This is because humid air is less dense than dry air, and the water vapor in humid air helps push heavier molecules out of the way, creating a better path for the ball to travel. According to a study by Dr. Alan Nathan, a 15-percentage point change in humidity can result in a 13.2-foot change in the average distance of a home run. However, the changes in air density caused by humidity are not large, with only a 1% reduction in density for 80% humidity.


Hoover gametime temps and humidity last night:



LINK

ETA: but Google AI appears to not be correct due to the following:

quote:

Researchers who focused on the larger size or increased density of balls in high humidity conditions found that humidity would actually increase the distance a ball travels, if only these factors were involved [4]

But chemists and physicists have shown that the important factor is probably disruption of chemical bonding in baseball materials, by the water that the baseball absorbs when it comes to equilibrium with moist air [5][6][7]. Water molecules disrupt the hydrogen bonding in the wool windings inside the ball to make it less "lively", so it can't be hit as sharply with the bat. In physics this is called the "coefficient of restitution" of the ball


LINK



This post was edited on 5/24/24 at 9:04 am
Posted by ProjectP2294
South St. Louis city
Member since May 2007
71091 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:08 am to
quote:

Dr. Alan Nathan


He's not a well known name, but this dude has studied the movement of baseballs more than anyone on the planet.
Posted by BhamTigah
Lurker since Jan 2003
Member since Jan 2007
14290 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:11 am to
quote:

humid air is less dense than dry air


My dumb arse would have thought the opposite.
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:13 am to
I just know White, Milazzo and Larson's flyouts would have been HRs if hit earlier in the day when the humidity was a little lower.

But, I know it goes both ways b/c SC had at least on flyout at the wall.
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:18 am to
quote:

My dumb arse would have thought the opposite.


It is counter intuitive but from high school chemistry water has a molecular weight of 18 and nitrogen and oxygen (which is most of the atmospheric gases) are 28 and 32 respectively.

Water is lighter than nitrogen and oxygen. It's why water vapor rises to make clouds.

The bottom line is if something "lighter" replaces something heavier the volume becomes less dense.
Posted by Honkus
Member since Aug 2005
52019 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:20 am to
The ball definitely died late in the game. I thought we hit 3 HRs in the 9th and for sure thought USC had walked us off (so did their hitter lol)
Posted by Chang Wung
NOLA
Member since Jul 2023
132 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:23 am to
Same thing is true in golf. It doesn’t make sense but it is true
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:29 am to
My first thought of why humidity reduces the length of the hit ball was due to the increased coefficient of friction with more water molecules.

But apparently that is not the case. Higher humidity affects the coefficient of restitution of the baseball:

quote:

Water molecules disrupt the hydrogen bonding in the wool windings inside the ball to make it less "lively", so it can't be hit as sharply with the bat. In physics this is called the "coefficient of restitution" of the ball


LINK
Posted by sidewalkside
rent free in yo head
Member since Sep 2021
1860 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:30 am to
quote:

15% point change


"%" and "point" are completely different references.
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:32 am to
quote:

Same thing is true in golf. It doesn’t make sense but it is true


I know this to be true but the chemistry website I just linked in my previous post said that the coefficient of restitution of the baseball is reduced with more humidity because more water molecules are in contact with the wool fibers of the baseball making it more spongey.

Now this may apply to wound golf balls but how would this apply to two-piece golf balls?

So many questions...
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:37 am to
quote:

quote:

15% point change



"%" and "point" are completely different references.


It means for example increasing humidity from 50% to 65%.

IDK if it's an error in statistics (been a long time since I took that class) but it should be, to take a percentage of a percentage. For example the percent change of the humidity from 50% to 65% is a 30% increase in humidity. This just makes things unnecessarily confusing.
Posted by WDAIII
Member since Aug 2020
3175 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:38 am to
Google AI also changed the skin color of our founding fathers
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:38 am to
Posted by BhamTigah
Lurker since Jan 2003
Member since Jan 2007
14290 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:41 am to
quote:

molecular weight
increased coefficient of friction
coefficient of restitution


Slow down Gumbo, I got my education at LSU.
Posted by stang14
Member since Nov 2019
1021 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:41 am to
What doe Greta Thunburg have to say about this. She is the leading scientist on man made climate change! Her kind like John Kerry are on the record saying climate change results in more home runs
This post was edited on 5/24/24 at 8:43 am
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:46 am to
quote:

Her kind like John Kerry are on the record saying climate change results in more home runs


So climate change makes the game of baseball more exciting.
Posted by Who_Dat_Tiger
Member since Nov 2015
18210 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 8:46 am to
Well how low was the humidity before our game started at 4:30?



I would think 50%+ humidity is common throughout the day there but maybe I’m just accustomed to the weather down here

ETA nvm I think I see what you’re saying. Tommy White wouldn’t have gone 0-6 with a stolen HR in the 9th if he had hit that screamer earlier in the game since it would’ve been a no doubter

ETA2
quote:

Some of those longer flyouts to the wall would have been HRs if hit earlier in the day.
I’m confused now. If humidity makes the ball travel further as evidenced in passage pasted in OP then why would the ball have traveled farther earlier in the day when it was less humid? What am I missing
This post was edited on 5/24/24 at 8:53 am
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119554 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 9:01 am to
I don't believe it travels further with more humidity.

This is why:

quote:

Researchers who focused on the larger size or increased density of balls in high humidity conditions found that humidity would actually increase the distance a ball travels, if only these factors were involved [4]

But chemists and physicists have shown that the important factor is probably disruption of chemical bonding in baseball materials, by the water that the baseball absorbs when it comes to equilibrium with moist air [5][6][7]. Water molecules disrupt the hydrogen bonding in the wool windings inside the ball to make it less "lively", so it can't be hit as sharply with the bat. In physics this is called the "coefficient of restitution" of the ball


LINK
Posted by saturday
Pronoun (Baw)
Member since Feb 2007
7144 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 9:04 am to
quote:

GumboPot







You seem too smart for this site!
Posted by pensacola
pensacola
Member since Sep 2005
4655 posts
Posted on 5/24/24 at 9:06 am to
Balls are less lively in humid conditions.
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