The fastest recorded pitch in MLB was thrown by Nolan Ryan in 1974. If this pitch were thrown horizontally....

Question

The fastest recorded pitch in MLB was thrown by Nolan Ryan in 1974. If this pitch were thrown horizontally....the ball would fall 0.809 m by the time it reached home plate, 18.3 m away.

The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s2

How fast was Ryan's pitch? In m/s

Answer 1

O.K. you know the acceleration of gravity so you can figure out how long it would take for a ball to drop 0.809 meters.

(This number does not depend on the horizontal velocity. It does depend on the vertical velocity, but you know that that is 0. The time for the horizontally thrown pitch to drop 0.809 meters is the same as the time it would take for a ball you just let go to drop the same distance.)

Then velocity equals distance/time. The problem gives you the distance (18.3m) and you've just computed the time, so you can compute the velocity.

Answer 2

A 100 mph pitch is rare, but it isn't so exceptional that the claim it is one of the fastest ever recorded has any real merit. There are a number of 100mph pitchers in the majors right now. Joel Zumaya, probably the fastest pitcher in history, throws most of his pitches at 100mph or above, frequently hitting 102 or 103. Not to take anything away from Nolan Ryan, he was one of the top 2 or 3 pitchers in history, and pitching 100mph for a starter, especially in the 1970's, is exceptional, but touting this claim to fame is kind of BS and used only for physics problems. His 6 no hitters and 5714 strike outs were MUCH more impressive. Also, when you're talking about a major league pitch, you can't ignore spin and aerodynamics. A pitch with no aerodynamics will be hit out of the park by any decent hitter, no matter how fast it's moving. You should e-mail the publisher of the book this came out of that this question is outdated and the premise is silly. I understand the questions get a bit dry if you just say "Jane threw a ball horizontally at 30mph...", but at least try to do it jazz it up without making yourself look ignorant. There's some great physics in baseball. Use it, don't ignore it. Sorry, I've seen this question before a number of times. I'm not going to help you with your homework at the moment though. Again, sorry, I know this doesn't really help you.

Answer 3

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