Does the ball really carry better when it's warm?

Question

Announcers always say that a baseball carries better when it's warm, and worse when it's cold, but is that really true? Is there an actual property of physics that makes it so, or are players just tighter when it's cold and not hit the ball as far?

Answer 1

Yes , it carries better. When it is warmer, air molecules are less densely packed. When colder, they are more densely packed. The less density the molecules in the air, the less resistance to an object traveling through the air. So, when it is hot, the ball will travel further through the air, when propelled by the same amount of force, than it will when it is cold. Along the same lines, the ball carries further at higher altitudes than at sea level because the air is thinner, less densely packed.

Answer 2

ok well your all kind of right but...the air humidity have  a huge impact on the velocity and enertia of a ball flying through the air so "perfect conditions" would would change depending on the temperature of the ball on a dry cold day a heated ball would probably fly alot further than lets say a humid hot day a baseball reacts very differently with the slightest change in humidity (as seen on the mythbusters) but as for a general question the molecules are moving faster in a heated baseball so the compression and expansion off of the bat when its hit  will be stronger and therefore fly farther

Answer 3

I also think that when the temperature is lower, it is closer to the dew point, meaning that there's a higher humidity which means it's closer to a condensation point. That means the air is thicker and more difficult for a ball to travel through.

Players can be tighter in cooler weather as well though, so that can play a part too.

Answer 4

yes the humidity changes how the ball changes

Answer 5

Yes, its quite true. As the climate changes, so does the ball's speed at times.

For some reason, the ball travels alot in some parks because they're quite warm down there and thus you'll expect to see more homeruns hit there because of the carry.

Hope that helps