Can a major league baseball player hit a homerun off of a tee?

Absolutely not

Depends.

How high is the tee? Golf tee? Probably not. Tee used in tee ball? Probably so.

T ball tee

Are you serious? of course they could. Its like 100 yards I can hit that far with my sandwedge one handed. A pro baseball player with a bat would crush it.

riverview wrote:

Are you serious? of course they could. Its like 100 yards I can hit that far with my sandwedge one handed. A pro baseball player with a bat would crush it.

Yeah I don't understand the difference between materials either. It makes me a saaaad panda.

forgetting about spin and all that complicated stuff, isnt it all about conservation of momentum?

on a tee, the ball isn't moving, so in theory it should go further than when pitched.

this assumes there is zero friction involved in the ball leaving the tee, or energy lost by the bat hitting the tee.

the other variable is the relative approach speed of bat/ball, but i'm not sure that makes much difference.

sumbphysicsdude wrote:

forgetting about spin and all that complicated stuff, isnt it all about conservation of momentum?

on a tee, the ball isn't moving, so in theory it should go further than when pitched.

this assumes there is zero friction involved in the ball leaving the tee, or energy lost by the bat hitting the tee.

the other variable is the relative approach speed of bat/ball, but i'm not sure that makes much difference.

Here's a question for you to get you headed down the right path.

Assuming an identical pitch/swing/contact area with the ball, which ball goes further: One hit off a 70 mile per hour pitch, or one hit off a 90 mile an hour pitch?

sumbphysicsdude wrote:

forgetting about spin and all that complicated stuff, isnt it all about conservation of momentum?

on a tee, the ball isn't moving, so in theory it should go further than when pitched.

this assumes there is zero friction involved in the ball leaving the tee, or energy lost by the bat hitting the tee.

the other variable is the relative approach speed of bat/ball, but i'm not sure that makes much difference.

What happens when you throw a ball against a wall?

If they are using a wooden bat i am going to say no, if they are using an aluminum bat then they have a chance, its not going to be near as easy as you fools think.

Well for baseball regulation sake let's say a wood bat. And I agree what the one poster said about throwing a baseball against the wall......it bounces back, so wouldn't a ninety mile an hr ball hitting a bat swinging just as fast go way farther than a ball sitting still?

A pitched ball will go farther, all else being equal, the faster it is traveling before it hits the bat. However, there's a reason they don't throw fastballs at the homerun derby. It's hard to hit a ball that is going really fast. That said, they still crush the ball in the homerun derby. Any decent homerun hitter in the majors could hit one off the tee within a few swings.

so of the power hitters could definitely pull it down the line

sumbphysicsdude wrote:

forgetting about spin and all that complicated stuff, isnt it all about conservation of momentum?

on a tee, the ball isn't moving, so in theory it should go further than when pitched.

this assumes there is zero friction involved in the ball leaving the tee, or energy lost by the bat hitting the tee.

the other variable is the relative approach speed of bat/ball, but i'm not sure that makes much difference.

Momentum actually isn't conserved as you are still torquing the bat when you hit it. If you just let the bat fall limp and a baseball hits it, then the bat will bounce back. Anyway, the point is that you have to look at conservation of energy (which obviously isn't perfect as some energy at least is lost with the "crack" of the bat). This means that you would expect it to be much harder.

I think that only a real heavy hitter, like Prince Fielder could get it out the park.

Only a power hitter like Fielder?

I'm sure any of them could hit a 70mph pitch out, and a 50mph pitch out. I can't imagine a power hitter not being able to hit a 0 mph pitch out.

I am going to say yes, but it will not travel as far. There is some energy lost in deformation, quantified by the coefficient of restitution, the rest of the energy is deflected back into propelling the ball. Conservation of momentum applies here. If the bat is accelerating, which is likely is, there are also some forces at work. However the balls initial momentum is mostly conserved, minus the deflection and losses to heat, sound, and is transferred into propelling it the opposite way.

Unarguably, it will require more effort to hit the ball the same distance off a tee than it would off a pitch. It is fairly subjective to decide whether someone can hit a home run off a tee without doing a dynamic analysis. The distance you lose will be directly related to the mass of the ball times its velocity.

I would approach this by varying the conservation of momentum equation based on the initial velocity. Calculate how much bat velocity will be required to hit a ball off a tee out of the park (projectile motion equation applies after impact), and compare that to the bat velocity required to hit a home run at various pitch speeds. You will need to estimate a coefficient of restitution, some moment of inertia value for the bat, the mass of the baseball, angle of contact, and possibly a few other things I overlooked. If the bat velocity doesnt change much, then it could be reasonable to assume any league hitter can do it. If there is a large difference, further investigation will be required.

sumbphysicsdude wrote:

forgetting about spin and all that complicated stuff, isnt it all about conservation of momentum?

on a tee, the ball isn't moving, so in theory it should go further than when pitched.

this assumes there is zero friction involved in the ball leaving the tee, or energy lost by the bat hitting the tee.

the other variable is the relative approach speed of bat/ball, but i'm not sure that makes much difference.

Lol, skip a few physics lectures?

Yes.

Any major league player who can hit home runs can hit a ball over the fence off a tee.

Hell, this 5-year-old did it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWU0avnXxBo

If he can do it on his size-appropriate field, a major leaguer could EASILY do it. Easily.

Yes. Cal Ripkin's batting tee sessions were legendary, and he did hit home runs off a tee placed on home plate.