Projectile Motion In Baseball

Words: 600
Pages: 3

Baseball is a well known sport all around the world. It has been a way for many people to be relaxed and play like they could all their life. There’s more into this sport than just hitting a ball with a bat though. Not only is it a sport that tests your skills and capacity, the way a baseball moves around the field is part of it too. It all leads back to the subject of physics. Physics has a vast amount of subject, however one stands out the most in the sport of baseball. Projectile motion is essential in the sport of baseball due to the movement of the ball when it’s being pitched, batted, and catched. The way physics works in baseball is very interesting, yet an understanding in projectile motion must be given before the subject is brought up. So, what is a projectile? “ A projectile is an object upon which the only force acting is gravity.” Now, what is a projectile in motion? A projectile in motion is the object being moved from the original position which it was in. In other words, if it either was thrown, or in some cases, rolled. In many cases, projectiles …show more content…
Gravity is a key force that affects projectile motion. A projectile only has one force acting upon it being gravity. Gravity affects all objects the same way regardless of their mass. The angle that maximizes the range of an object horizontally the most is 45 degrees. The angle that maximizes vertical displacement the most is 90 degrees. This is true because none of the energy is transferred into the horizontal direction and instead it is all directed towards the vertical direction. In order to achieve the farthest distance a baseball can be hit or throws, according to projectile motion, it has to be hit/thrown at an angle of 45 degrees. If you wanted to hit or throw the baseball as high as you could, you would have to throw/hit the ball at 90 degrees to maximize vertical displacement” (Physics of Baseball