How Much Force Does a Catcher's Mitt Experience When Catching a Fastball?

[La Bu]

A baseball catcher is catching a fastball that is thrown at 43 m/s by the pitcher. If the mass of the ball is 0.15 kg and if the catcher moves his mitt backward toward his body by 8.0 cm as the ball lands in the glove, what is the magnitude of the average force acting on the catcher's mitt? Estimate the time interval required for the catcher to move his hands.


deltap = mv

43m/s * 0.15kg = 6.45 kgm/s = deltap = Fav * delta t

I'm stuck here and I don't know where to go. I'm assuming acceleration is involved but I don't know how to apply it to the problem. Appreciate it if anybody could help, thanks.

 

[Doc Al]

You can find the acceleration of the ball using kinematics. Then use Newton's 2nd law. Or you could consider the work done by the catcher.

[Please use Intro Physics for these kinds of problems!]

 

[kerimek]

I can help you solve this problem using the principles of Newton's Laws of Motion. First, we need to determine the acceleration of the ball as it is caught by the catcher's mitt. We can use the equation F = ma, where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration. In this case, the force is the average force acting on the catcher's mitt, and the mass is the mass of the ball. We can rearrange this equation to solve for a: a = F/m.

Next, we need to determine the time interval required for the catcher to move his hands. This can be calculated using the equation v = d/t, where v is the velocity, d is the distance, and t is the time. In this case, the velocity is 43 m/s and the distance is 8.0 cm (or 0.08 m). We can rearrange this equation to solve for t: t = d/v.

Now, we can combine these two equations to solve for the average force acting on the catcher's mitt. Substituting the value for acceleration (a) and time interval (t) into the equation F = ma, we get F = (0.15 kg * 43 m/s)/0.08 m = 80.625 N. This is the magnitude of the average force acting on the catcher's mitt.

In summary, the magnitude of the average force acting on the catcher's mitt is 80.625 N and the time interval required for the catcher to move his hands is 0.08 seconds. This shows that the catcher experiences a significant force when catching a fastball and must react quickly in a short amount of time to successfully catch the ball.