How Things Work Introductory Physics for Non-Majors

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physics of baseball pitches. Physics is all around us even if we don’t pay attention to it. There are differences in air pressures, differences in forces and torque that give rise to varied pitches today. Pitching the right way requires a person to be aware of all these proprieties so they make can use of it in the best way.

Baseball physics

Baseball is one of the most favorite American past times. Ever since Babe Ruth hit that record, Americans have been tuned on the baseball and baseball players. If one really looks past the pitching and the batting, it is quite obvious that physics is involved in this game. Physics itself is present in almost everything we do and everything we use. There are different sorts of pitches that players use to make sure the batter doesn’t make much out of it. If a player goes on to pitch without any experience or strategy, he will end up giving more and more home runs to the opposing team.

Throwing is an everyday activity and surely, everyone is quite adept at it. A person would be required to throw an object regardless of how small or big it is sometime in their life. It should be stated that throwing a baseball is not that difficult. However, throwing it accurately, strategically and with a decent speed takes a lot of practice and skill. Warren Spahn, who is a very well-known pitcher said that if a person manages to hit ball, which is called good timing. Good pitching however involves upsetting the timing and thus causing the person to miss the shot. One of the ways a pitcher can mess up the timing is by changing what he batter expects. In other words, the pitcher would pitch in such a way that the timing, speed and direction of the ball would be quite a surprise to the batter.

If baseball was something that a person could play in a vacuum, the only force that could affect the pitch would be the downward attraction from gravity. (Nathan, 1997) This would thus leave no doubt for the batter and he would not be able to fool. Lucky for us, baseball is played in ballparks or stadiums with a lot of different forces acting on the ball. Pitching requires a lot of skill and due to this reason, there aren’t many people who have set records for pitches. Stephen Strasburg from the Washington Nationals made a 101 mph pitch when he debuted in June 2010 (Repanich, 2010). Following his record, Aroldis Champan put forward a 105 mph pitch. Chapman is only 22 years old and was playing for the Cincinnati Red’s triple A affiliate in Louisville.

This pitch by Chapman is one of the fastest ones that has ever been recorded. Pitching itself requires a lot of strength in the upper body. A study carried out in Birmingham, Alabama by Dr. Glenn Fleisig stated that he has never seen anything like what Chapman did by setting that record. (Repanich, 2010) The fastest pitch recorded by the Guinness book is by Nola Ryan in 1974. Ryan threw a 100.9 pitch. After Ryan, baseball players like Mark Wohlers and Joel Zumaya have thrown103 mph and 104 mp fastballs respectively.

Forces acting on the baseball.

When a baseball is in motion, there are three different forces acting on it. The three forces are gravity, air drag and the Magnus Force. First we will talk about Air drag. A drag force acting on anything moving in fluid is directly proportional to the speed of that fluid. The drag force is basically affected by the diameter and the roughness of the ball. The stitches on the ball that are raised actually work to reduce the drag force on the ball. In other words, if the balls were very smooth, then pitchers would not be able to throw such fast balls. Thus it has been established that drag forces determine the velocity of the ball. (Frohlich, 1984) Even though the balls shouldn’t be smooth, they shouldn’t be much worn out either. If they are very worn out, this would cause very little resistance. This sort of ball can be thrown very fast and that is a major reason why balls are changed so regularly in professional baseball games.

The Magnus force is basically responsible for causing the ball to spin laterally or curve in the air. (Briggs 1959) The faster a ball is moving, the more drag force is acting on the ball. If a ball is spinning perpendicular to the direction of travel, then the speed of the bal and the air in this case is different on both sides of the ball. Since there are forces of two different magnitudes acting on the lower and upper surface of the ball, we would eventually end up with resultant force. This resultant force is therefore known s the Magnus force.

Together both the drag force and the Magnus force make the curvature within a certain range of speed that is again determined by the mass, size, and roughness of the ball. These two forces also go on to determine the rate of spin of the ball. (Briggs, 1959)

Torque

Torque is basically the tendency or the force that causes an object to move around an axis. (Serway & Jewett, 2003) Another word for torque is the moment of force or the moment. Hence, it is the force that causes an object to rotate or move around fulcrum, pivot or an axis. Torque is responsible for pushing, pulling and twisting an object.

When a person throws a baseball, they are actually using a lot of force in their body to through the ball. Even though the ball itself might not be heavy, throwing it at a proper angle and at a proper speed requires a lot of force. The general throwing positions starts from ninety degrees and then to 180 degrees and then pointing towards the ground. In order to get the sort of throw you want or at the speed you want it, a person needs to have good view of the target and a good amount of torque as well.

The torque that we mentioned here is coming from all the forces inside the body that go on and act on the arm. The different component forces actually come from varied regions on the body. However, when they are linked together they give rise to a powerful resultant force. This resultant force is the one that causes the arm to be pulled backward. After the arm is pulled backward, it is then rotated forward. Moving the arm back and then moving it forwards assists the person to achieve the fast angular speed that they want. Moving the arm backward would also generate torque and then when the person finally brings the arm forward, he is able to throw with a lot of speed. Some of the torque also comes from the resistance that your arm has to rotating backwards. This resistance therefore also helps you to attain the kind of strength and the speed that you want.

Physics behind baseball pitches

There is a lot of torque required to throw a fast pitch. (Repanich, 2010) According to tests carried out by Fleisig on cadavers, the magnitude of force required to throw a more than 100 mph pitch is a lot more than the ulnar collateral ligament can stand. (Repanich, 2010) Thus, when a pitcher cocks his arm in such a way that it turned towards the sky, there is a force of about 100 meters on the arm of the pitcher. This mount of torque is equivalent to a 60 pound weight being hung from the hand in that exact position. From that position onwards, the athlete goes on to release the ball in a relatively small time.

The major reason a pitch actually comes in place is due to the interaction between the surrounding air and the ball. (Nathan, 1997) The major skill behind pitching comes from playing around with the flow of air. It should be noted that air around the baseball is altered in such a way that the pressure changes as well. It is then the change in pressure that would affect the ball’s trajectory in a certain way. If the trajectory can be controlled by the pitcher, he is in a good position to fool the batter and thus decrease the score made by him.

As a baseball will move forward towards the batter, it will affect the surrounding air molecules. The air instead will go about a rather streamlined way around the ball. This air will them make a very thin layer that will stick to the surface of the ball. This layer is known as the boundary layer. The frictional forces and the shape of the pall will ultimately peel of that boundary layer mentioned earlier. This will cause the ball to reach the batter in a rather swirling manner. The frictional force that was mentioned before is basically a drag force. This drag force is created due to the different air pressures on the back and the front side of the ball. Since it is a frictional force, the drag force will eventually work to slow down the ball. This means that if the velocity of the wind is more, the boundary layer will be peeled off to a bigger extent. This will therefore create a bigger pressure difference causing a lot of drag force to be made.

Now we will look into the spin of the ball. As will be discussed below, spinning the ball really makes a big difference to the pitch. It confuses the batter and makes the path of the ball very dodgy thus making it very difficult to bat. If there is ball that is to spin counterclockwise, this would mean that air flowing past the right side of the ball is at a higher velocity than the air on the left side of the ball. These directions are mentioned relative to the position of the pitcher. The faster side would mean that the boundary layer that was mentioned before is stripping off farther upstream. This derailing of the boundary layer would then cause the ball to go towards the right side. To make it easier, the air on the left side of the ball was at a higher speed. This difference in speeds of air caused the ball to go towards the right side. (Bahill&Baldwin, 2006)

This phenomenon is best explained by Newton’s law of action and reaction. The air is exerting a force on the ball in the exact opposite direction. If this scenario is looked at from the batters perspective, then we see that the ball breaks from the left side to the right side. This sort of Magnus force is held in charge for the sudden rising of the fast ball and the breaks seen in the slider pitch and the curveball pitch. These pitches will be discussed in more detail below. As the rotation augments, the magnitude of the Magnus force also increased. Therefore, the ball will go towards the direction It was turning in.

There are different sort of baseball pitches and all of them have different physics involved in them. Now we will talk about different sorts of pitches that are present today.

Fast Ball

This pitch is by far one of the most significant ones in the game of baseball. In this sort of pitch, the pitches holds the ball with two fingers. His fingers rest more inside the ball than on it. When one the pitch, the pitcher is going to let this ball go at a very high velocity. It should be noted here that the ball is released at a very fast velocity. This fast speed therefore gives the name fast ball to this sort of pitch. It should also be considered that this sort of pitch can be done by using different types of balls. When using a 4 seam fastball, this pitch is delivered in more of a horizontal position as opposite to a vertical one. The trick is going horizontal is that it would result in an increased amount of backspin. The backspin then would create a lot of pressure under the bal and low pressure on top of the ball. Due to the backspin, the Magnus force actually works to oppose gravity. This gives the impression to the batter that the ball is rising when actually it isn’t. This technicality therefore confuses the batter, overpowers him and thus causes him to swing late. (Frohlich, 1984)

For instance, if there is a spin comprising of 1600 revolutions per minute, the Magnus force would equal to only twenty percent of the gravity. (Nathan, 1997) For a ball to actually rise, the Magnus force has to be more than the gravity. However, the 20% Magnus force does give the ball a hop effect. This would cause the ball to drop about 2.4 feet. A pitcher who is quite adept plays around with the velocity of throw. The two finger approach for this pitch actually fools the batter to quite an extent. In this technique, the backspin on the ball is reduced. This reduces the speed and also the spin on the ball. This sort of pitch thus causes the ball to drop six to twelve inches increased than a fastball. In midst of the chaos and the pressure, the batter usually doesn’t see that the spin is reduced. He goes on to think that the ball will come higher and that too at a faster speed. Thinking this, the batter swings over and thus misses the shot.

Cutter

Another example is the cutter. In this type of baseball pitch, the batter basically turns his palm in the opposite direction. In here, he is attempting to make a somewhat series of pitches which is also known as breaking pitches. In this instance, the more the pitcher rotates his palm, there would be more inertia thus more movement as well. Since in sort of pitch, the actual movement is being cut, the speed is reduced as well.

Sinker

Sinker is yet another type of baseball pitch. This sort of pitch is most pronounced when someone plays with a wiffleball. It’s apparent because this is when the ball would elevate, fall and then curve in a certain way. The way the ball curves in and away from the batter is actually dependant on how the air holes are positioned in the ball. Then again, releasing the ball in a certain wt or spinning the ball will ultimately also make a difference on how the ball goes to the batter. A thing to observe here is that in sort of pitch, the ball is actually released when the pitcher’s hand is facing away from the pitcher. The major purpose of this sort of pitch is that the batter will swing and miss the ball. Another strategy through which this sort of pitch will get the batter is that it will become a ground ball. Surely, if the ball touches the pitch, the batter cannot score much. This basically occurs because there is a sudden break and deceleration that takes place as the pitch reaches the strike zone. (Bahill&Baldwin, 2003) Thus, here the pitch goes against the law of physics and provides a break in the pitch. This thus causes the sudden change and the vertical illusion that appears. (Bahill&Baldwin, 2003)

Change up

Since we mentioned sinker before, now we talk about a change up. This sort of itch is like the sinker however there is only one major difference. The major disparity comes here that the palm is moved more out. This pitch is yet slower when compared to the fast ball. A good trick that most of the pitchers use is to keep the same arm for different types of pitches. Surely we know that the speed will depend more on the force applied rather than the direction or the angle of the arm. So basically, in this sort of pitch, the pitches will use the same arm but the speed of throw would be reduced. In this pitch, the pitcher would develop decreased velocity and decreased torque. The pitcher does that by pressing the ball on his palms which reduced the finger contact with the ball. This trick will basically confuse the batter and thus prevent him from scoring.

Screwball

This sort of pitch will actually change the angle is it makes its way towards the batter. For instance, if the pitcher starts off from his left side, the ball will go on to the right side as it reaches the batter. In this sort of pitch, the arm is bent away from the pitcher. Here the pronation is even more than what it was in the sinker pitch. (Bahill&Baldwin, 2006) As soon as the pitcher is about to release the ball, he will twist the ball like a corkscrew. A batter will thus see the ball move away from him leaving him in a poor position to score. This is a left handed pitch and for this reason the deflection in this sort of pitch is less than the deflection in a right handed slider. All in all, the direction of deflection relies on the direction of the spin axis. The axis will differ with the angle that the player makes during the delivery and how his fingers are positioned when the ball is released. Therefore, we see in this sort of pitch, the deflection is controlled more by the pitcher. (Bahill&Baldwin, 2006)

Curveball

A curve ball is one of the trickiest pitches in the history of baseball. If a curve ball ends up well, then surely its good news for the team. However, if the dynamics are not carried out in the proper way, it will be that much fun. In this pitch, the ball arches up in such a way that it appears to reach to the batters chest. The throw maybe so forceful that it can reach the head of the batter and then go on to drop like a bomb. These sort of pitches actually reach the strike zone before the batter even reaches the plate. As mentioned before, this sort of pitching requires a lot of skill and not everyone can carry it out in a proper way. In this pitch, the pitcher basically twist his palm in such a way that his hand resembles the alphabet ‘C’. After doing so, he makes a flicking movement of the wrist as he lets go of the ball. The end movement will therefore create a topspin. As we know, the more the topspin, the better the air pressure will be. Since there will be a pressure difference above and below the ball, the break will be more as well. In this sort of pitch, the amount of spin is more than the fastball. The revolutions are about 1900 per minute which thus gives rise to more Magnus Force. Even though spin is more, the speed is less. This speed is about 75 mph and thus it provides long time for the Magnus force to act. Since the Magnus force stays in for a longer period of time, there is a much larger deflection in the pitch. The rotation in this sort of pitch is actually topspin as well as sidespin. Due to two spins, the breaks are actually two sides and much more closer to the ground.

Slider

Last but not the least, we talk about the slider ball. In this pitch, the pitcher throws the ball with less speed but he moves his palm towards himself. Since the speed is reduced, it allows the ball to move or slide from one plate to another. The slider pitch basically starts off straight but then goes onto curve as it reaches the end of the trajectory. (Allen, 1982) If the velocity of this pitch is observed, then it is more than the curveball. It travels above the speed at which unequal turbulence occurs. As the ball reached end of the trajectory, it will slow down. That is when the turbulence pattern initiates and eventually the ball ends up in a curved pattern. (Frohlich, 1984)

All in all it should be seen that baseball pitches are not as simple as they seem. They are quite detailed and require a lot of different steps. Different forces are coming into play and causing the pitch to be how the pitcher wants it. Components like speed and direction can be altered thanks to physics. Playing around with these different components thus cause pitchers to become skilled and thus go onto becoming amazing pitchers.

References

Allen, E. (1982). Baseball Play and Strategy. In: Krieger, R. eds. (1982). Baseball Play and Strategy . 1st ed. Malabar, FL: pp.27-32.

Bahill, T. And Baldwin, D. (2006). Describing baseball pitch movement with right-hand rules. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 37 pp.1001-1008.

Bahill, T. And Baldwin, D. (2003). The vertical illusions of batters. The Baseball Research Journal, 32 pp.26-30.

Briggs, L. (1959). Effect of Spin and Speed on the Lateral Deflection (Curve) of a Baseball; and the Magnus Effect for Smooth Spheres. American Journal of Physics, 27 (8), pp.589.

Frohlich, C. (1984). Aerodynamic drag crisis and its possible effect on the flight of baseballs. American Journal of Physics, 52 (4), pp.325-334.

Mental Floss (2008). 7 Famous Baseball Pitches (and some physics behind them). [online] Retrieved from: http://mentalfloss.com/article/19853/7-famous-baseball-pitches-and-some-physics-behind-them [Accessed: 9 Apr 2013].

Nathan, A. (1997). Working Knowledge. Scientific American, pp.102-103.

Repanich, J. (2010). How Fast Can a Pitcher Throw the Ball?. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/physics/how-the-105-mph-fastball-tests-the-limits-of-the-human-body [Accessed: 9 Apr 2013].

Serway, R. And Jewett Jr., J. (2003). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 6th ed. Brooks Cole.

Sweet, K. (n.d.). Mechanics of Throwing. [online] Retrieved from: http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2004.web.dir/Kenneth_Sweet/throwing.html [Accessed: 9 Apr 2013].

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