Physics education research, electronic materials, and the musings of Christopher Moore, Ph.D.

I suppose, you don't want the answer to why its easier to lift lighter objects than heavier objects.
Then I suppose you are quite confused at the swinging phenomena.
In general, its more difficult to swing around objects if it is  heavier and/or the mass is concentrated further from the center of swing.
For eg. attach a heavy mass to one end of a slim stick.
Now, if you swing the stick from both ends, swinging the stick by holding the heavy mass end is far easier than swinging by holding the other side. This is because, for the first case, the heavy mass which constitute almost all mass of the stick system, has to travel very small distance, hence demands very small work, whereas in the second case, it as to whirl round, travelling the long circumference of the swing, demanding more work,ie. more energy.

A baseball bat, which all most like our stick mass system is heavier towards the end. So larger portion of its mass has to travel the longer distance. Hence, it demands more energy.

Last edited by RajendraAdhikari (2009-03-09 06:46:47)