preview

Physics of the Golf Drive Essay

Good Essays

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 …show more content…

Using the principle of conservation of momentum:
2) MVi + mvi = MVf + mvf where M is the mass of the club head, and m is the mass of the golf ball.

The unknowns in the equations will be the final velocities of the golf ball and club head, so first eliminate one of the final velocities in equation 1 and substitute into equation 2.

3) Vf = vf - e(Vi - vi) sub into equation 2
4) MVi + mvi = M[vf - e(Vi - vi)] + mvf

Since the golf ball is originally at rest, vi = 0, solving for final velocity of golf ball yields:

5) vf = [MVi(1 + e)] / (M + m)

Using similar algebra steps to solve for the final velocity of the club head yields:

6) Vf = Vi(M - me) / (M + m)

You can use these results and the fact that potential energy at the collision point is equal to zero to calculate the energy lost in the collision.

7) W = -(0.5MVf2 + 0.5mvf2 - 0.5MVi2)

Our objective in driving a golf ball down the fairway is to keep it as straight as possible and to drive it as far as possible. It is therefore logical to ask "what mass of a club head would give the longest drive?"

From equation 5 we found that the velocity of the ball after impact is given by:

5) vf = [MVi(1 + e)] / (M + m)

From this equation, we can see that the velocity of the ball should increase if we increase the velocity of our swing, the elasticity of the ball, or the mass of the club head.

We should also recognize that increasing

Get Access