When watching a baseball game, it is easy to admire the talent of the athletes on the field. There are very few people who can throw a ball 90 miles per hour or hit it 400+ feet, but Major League Baseball is loaded with human beings who demonstrate this capability. Recently, with advanced interest in baseball analytics, it has become even easier to be struck by the supernatural talents of the world's top baseball players.
Many people often associate size and muscle mass with the ability to throw a baseball hard. However, this is not actually the case. The hardest throwers use their muscle mass combined with torque created by the separation of the hips and shoulders (Arndt). Think of a spring. In order to get the maximum amount of power from a spring, it is compacted as much as possible, also creating pressure. At the moment of release, the spring explodes out to its maximum length, pushing forward against another object and setting it in motion. This is the same system that occurs in a pitcher's body right before a pitch is released. When a pitcher throws a ball 100 miles per hour, there are 80 newton-meters of torque on the pitchers elbow and it is believed that any more torque would cause the pitcher's elbow to snap (Arndt). As soon as the pitch is released, the baseball is impacted by the acceleration due to gravity, pulling the ball downwards, and air resistance, causing the ball to speed up or slow down, depending on the velocity of the wind.
Even more difficult than throwing the ball is hitting the ball. When the numbers are broken down, hitting a major league baseball seems downright impossible, as explained in this video:
While hitting the ball seems impossible, players often hit the ball very hard. In order to determine how well a ball is hit, the two main aspects inspected are launch angle and exit velocity. Both aspects have to be within a certain margin of error in order to hit the ever desirable home run. Two other aspects that impact the flight and distance of the ball are humidity and air temperature. As both increase, the ball tends to travel farther due to a decrease in the density of the air (Kaplan). Both actions of pitching and hitting a baseball are what make the game so interesting and impressive to watch. Knowing the numbers behind every play makes watching every pitch awe-inspiring.
Works Cited
- Arndt, Justin. “How Aroldis Chapman Threw the Fastest Pitch Ever.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 May 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-aroldis-chapman-threw-the-fastest-pitch-ever_us_57c38390e4b06384eb4066ef.
- Kaplan, Sarah. “The Physics behind Hitting a Home Run.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 11 July 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/07/11/the-physics-behind-hitting-a-home-run/?utm_term=.c0c7380b1182.
Many people often associate size and muscle mass with the ability to throw a baseball hard. However, this is not actually the case. The hardest throwers use their muscle mass combined with torque created by the separation of the hips and shoulders (Arndt). Think of a spring. In order to get the maximum amount of power from a spring, it is compacted as much as possible, also creating pressure. At the moment of release, the spring explodes out to its maximum length, pushing forward against another object and setting it in motion. This is the same system that occurs in a pitcher's body right before a pitch is released. When a pitcher throws a ball 100 miles per hour, there are 80 newton-meters of torque on the pitchers elbow and it is believed that any more torque would cause the pitcher's elbow to snap (Arndt). As soon as the pitch is released, the baseball is impacted by the acceleration due to gravity, pulling the ball downwards, and air resistance, causing the ball to speed up or slow down, depending on the velocity of the wind.
Even more difficult than throwing the ball is hitting the ball. When the numbers are broken down, hitting a major league baseball seems downright impossible, as explained in this video:
While hitting the ball seems impossible, players often hit the ball very hard. In order to determine how well a ball is hit, the two main aspects inspected are launch angle and exit velocity. Both aspects have to be within a certain margin of error in order to hit the ever desirable home run. Two other aspects that impact the flight and distance of the ball are humidity and air temperature. As both increase, the ball tends to travel farther due to a decrease in the density of the air (Kaplan). Both actions of pitching and hitting a baseball are what make the game so interesting and impressive to watch. Knowing the numbers behind every play makes watching every pitch awe-inspiring.
Works Cited
- Arndt, Justin. “How Aroldis Chapman Threw the Fastest Pitch Ever.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 May 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-aroldis-chapman-threw-the-fastest-pitch-ever_us_57c38390e4b06384eb4066ef.
- Kaplan, Sarah. “The Physics behind Hitting a Home Run.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 11 July 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/07/11/the-physics-behind-hitting-a-home-run/?utm_term=.c0c7380b1182.
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