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Air Resistance and Throwing Balls
Name: Jacob
Status: Student
Grade: K-3
Location: FL
Country: United States
Date: Spring 2009
Question:
Why would a heavy ball go further than a lighter ball? I
am doing a science project. using my ultimate pitching machine it
threw 4 balls with different weight (tennis, t-ball, light and heavy
baseball). I used the settings I use for batting practice to throw
the balls. The tennis ball went the shortest and the heavy baseball
went the furthest. I thought the tennis ball would go the furthest
because it is the lightest. We tested it twice with the same
results. You can view the pitching machine on-line it is also called
the UPM45. I have not seen any project like this on any web site. Is
it momentum that causes the heavy balls to go further?
Replies:
Without knowing the exact sizes and masses of the balls, not the exact
conditions of the throw, my first guess is that the pitching machine threw
all the balls at about the same initial speed. (If you gave it a really
heavy ball, such as one made of lead, it would probably have a somewhat
slower initial speed.)
The difference between the balls, then, would be that air resistance would
act with about the same force on all the balls (if they have the same size
and speed), but the force would affect the lighter balls more. (Just as it
takes less force to push a light ball than a heavy ball.)
Richard Barrans, Ph.D., M.Ed.
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Wyoming
Hi Jacob,
The reason the lighter ball does not go as far as a heavier one
(assuming both are roughly the same size) is that the lighter ball has
less mass. Because it has less mass, the lighter ball has less energy
than a heavier one traveling at the same speed, so the lighter ball
will negatively accelerate (slow down) more quickly by air resistance.
Regards,
Bob Wilson
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