![]() ![]() Sikorsky's first problem was to determine how much spin a pitcher could put on a baseball in the regulation sixty-foot, six-inch distance from the mound to the plate. This force which causes a spinning ball to curve in flight is the " Magnus effect". Science he realized that a pitched ball, traveling in a curved path, is an example of aerodynamic action in everyday life. It should be noted that baseball was a rather foreign endeavor to Mr. ![]() the object is to elude the man with the stick". "Here we have a solid sphere, moving rapidly in space and rotating on a vertical axis. Sikorsky, who has a wind tunnel, called his engineers together presenting the problem as follows: Igor Sikorsky's interest had stemmed from a phone call he received from United Aircraft's Lauren (Deac) Lyman who over lunch with Walter Neff of United Airlines, had discussed the question of the trajectory of a baseball. Only rarely has there been objective scientific testing in order to verify what is so obviously the appearance of a curve. Aerodynamics & Curve Ballsįor over a century baseball fans have debated the question of whether a 1/100th of a second too late and it's foul in the right field seats, and the decision to swing has to happen within 4/100th of a second. Good news for batters: The "muzzle velocity" of a pitched baseball slows down about 1 mph every 7 feet after it leaves the pitcher's hand, that's a loss of roughly 8 mph by the time it crosses the plate.īad news for batters: If you swing 1/100th of a second too soon a ball will go foul down the left field side (right handed batter). The collision of a bat and baseball lasts only approximately 1/1000 of a second. Here is no possible way (excluding softball) to throw a rising fastball that actually rises.Įxcluding meteorologically strange conditions, a batted ball cannot travel longer than 545 feet. Part of the ball's deviation from a straight line is governed by the equation: P=P R-P L=1/2 Þair which describes the magnitude of the pressure differential between the left and right sides of a rotating, thrown baseball. A fly to the outfield travels 98 yards in 4.3 seconds.Īn average head wind (10 mph) can turn a 400-foot home run into a 370-foot routine out.Ī curveball that seems to break over 14 inches never actually deviates from a straight line more than 3 1/2 inches. To hit a ball the maximum possible distance, the trajectory off the bat should have a 35-degree angle.Ī line drive travels 100 yards in 4 seconds. To see this page as it is meant to appear please use a Javascript enabled browser.Ī ball that would travel 400 feet in "normal" conditions goes:Ħ feet farther if the altitude is 1,000 feet higher 4 feet farther if the air is 10 degrees warmerĤ feet farther if the ball is 10 degrees warmerĤ feet farther if the barometer drops 1 inch of mercuryģ 1/2 feet farther if the pitcher is 5 mph fasterģ0 feet farther if struck with an aluminum bat Your browser either doesn't support Javascript or you have it turned off. The Physics of Baseball This page uses Javascript. ![]()
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