How much force (in Newtons) does a baseball pitcher have to exert on a 250g baseball to make it accelerate to 50 m/s the instant that it leaves his hand?

Answer 1

To determine the force required, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that force (F) is equal to the mass (m) of an object multiplied by its acceleration (a).

Given:
Mass of the baseball (m) = 250g = 0.25kg
Final velocity (v) = 50 m/s
Initial velocity (u) = 0 m/s (since the ball starts from rest)

The acceleration (a) can be calculated using the following equation:
v^2 = u^2 + 2as

Rearranging the equation to solve for acceleration (a):
a = (v^2 - u^2) / (2s)

Since the baseball pitcher wants the ball to reach 50 m/s at an instant (which means s = 0), we can use the equation to find the acceleration:
a = (50^2 - 0) / (2 * 0) = 0

Thus, the required force on the baseball is zero since there is no acceleration needed to achieve the desired velocity of 50 m/s the instant it leaves the pitcher's hand.