and i was flipping through the channels and i happened to stumble upon mythbusters. which is good because they usually are doing something physics based in their busting of myths. today i was extra lucky, they were doing baseball myths. one myth in particular was the myths of balls moving in different directions with the different types of throws. for instance a fastball has the straightest path while a curve ball takes a sudden dip at the end of its path. this was due to the different amount of force put on the ball in mid flight. in a fast ball the ball is spinning away from the plate (or towards the pitcher) causing low pressure to build up on top of the ball and higher pressure to build up underneath the ball. this gives the ball more lift which also gives the ball a straighter flight path. this is due to the added normal force that is now acting on the ball counter-acting gravity. however they were able to debunk the myth of a "rising fastball" because it is not physically possible for a pitcher to throw a ball with enough force to have it spin hard enough to create enough low pressure to cause the ball to actually rise. it is merely an optical illusion.
a curve ball is slightly different, the ball spins in the opposite direction of the fast ball causing high pressure to build on top forcing the ball downwards adding to the force of gravity and causing the ball to drop quicker.
and here i thought they were just throwing a ball.
i dont have a video from the show (youtube failed me) so a ms paint and random picture will have to suffice
No comments:
Post a Comment