Lesson 2: Kinetic Energy: The Energy of Moving Things
A moving golf ball has kinetic energy — the energy of motion. The faster something moves, the more kinetic energy it has.
Here is the really interesting part: speed matters more than weight when it comes to kinetic energy. If you double the speed of a golf ball, you quadruple its kinetic energy. That is why club head speed matters so much in golf.
This is why golfers spend so much time practicing to increase their swing speed. A swing that is 10% faster produces much more than 10% more distance.
It is also why golf balls are designed to be as lightweight as possible — a lighter ball is easier to accelerate to high speed with the same swing.
Kinetic energy is the energy of a moving object. More speed = much more kinetic energy. Doubling speed quadruples kinetic energy.
This is why club head speed is the single most important factor in hitting farther.
Roll a golf ball gently and mark where it stops. Now roll it hard and mark where it stops. About how much farther did the faster ball go — was it twice as far or more?
Speed and distance ramp experiment: roll a golf ball from three different heights on a ramp. Mark where it stops each time. Record heights and distances in a table. Does rolling from twice as high mean it travels twice as far? Draw a simple graph of your results.
The ramp experiment demonstrates the relationship between energy and distance. Higher start = more potential energy = more kinetic energy at the bottom = rolls farther. If your child notices the relationship is not perfectly linear, they are observing correctly — friction is also a factor.