The moment the ball leaves the pitcher's hand is when the ball is at its max velocity, right? After that it is deccelerating all the way to the plate. I thought it was accelerating to the plate because the ball was at zero velocity in the pitcher's hand and when it's in flight, it has greater velocity than when it left the pitcher's hand, but I think that's wrong.
2006-10-17 19:15:07 · 5 answers · asked by sunseekerrv 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It is not immediately obvious whether the max velocity is the ball's initial velocity, Two forces are at work: air friction which slows down the ball, and gravity which speeds it up. To give an extreme example, if the pitch is very slow, the ball will be acceleratied by gravity and air friction will be very low, so it's speed will increase after release. Of course, this is the speed in the direction of motion, and not just the horizontal speed, which alway is less than the initial horizontal velocity. If the ball is pitched very fast, there won't be enough time for significant vertical acceleration, and air friction will be significant, so the initial velocity is probably the maximum in that case.
I have written out the equations for the ball's velocity to see if I can determine when the maximum velocity occurs under different initial conditions, but I haven't gotten around to solving them yet.
If lyou are interested in working on this problem, you can find my work (as far as I got) here:
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8554/ballvelocityro5.png
2006-10-17 19:33:17 · answer #1 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The pitcher pitches from a mound (I believe lowered to 10" high after the 1968 season, during which Bob Gibson mowed down National League hitters with a 1.12 earned run average), and the ball (usually) travels a bit downward, so it experiences acceleration due to earth's gravity.
So the question to answer is, is the negative acceleration due to air resistance/friction greater than the positive acceleration due to gravity?
The relative value of friction vs. gravity depends on the elevation of the ball field above/below sea level, relative humidity, strength and direction of wind, barometric pressure, the amount and direction of spin the pitcher put on the ball, initial velocity of the ball, height and forward displacement from the mound of the pitcher's release point, any birds (it's happened) or insects getting in the way, and the location of the pitch (as it crosses the plate) relative to the release point.
2006-10-17 19:32:51 · answer #2 · answered by Glenn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hit the load room. artwork on decrease physique and center. that's a huge area of pitching. Mechanics on my own can earnings consumer-friendly MPH, so get sturdy with the mechanics, besides as ordinary long toss to strengthen arm potential. 2 hundred crunches on my own won't do it. you are able to desire to hit the top and decrease abs, besides because of the fact the obliques, and you like some rotational center artwork of their besides. Push united statesdoes no longer be the terrific pitchers workout consultation, chest and pitching do no longer pass hand in hand, and arms do no longer rather impact velocity too plenty, till it rather is a throwing action. no longer announcing do no longer do push ups, because of the fact standard it rather is an exceedingly sturdy workout consultation. purely no longer your terrific pitching. in case you are able to no longer get to a weight room, lookup some exercises you're able to do with weights, like plyometrics, and bodyweight exercises. playstation . Flexibilty can help plenty in each and every thing you do, stretch two times an afternoon, and sturdy luck.
2016-10-02 10:10:11 · answer #3 · answered by spies 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Max speed when leaving the finger tips.
2006-10-17 20:06:27 · answer #4 · answered by FrogDog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
decelerating the whole way due to friction in the air.
but to make you right - it is accelerating downward due to gravity
2006-10-17 19:22:22 · answer #5 · answered by Slave to JC 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋