A 0.140 kg baseball traveling 39.0 m/s strikes the catchers mitt, which, in bringing the ball to rest, recoils backward 13 cm. What is the average force applied by the ball on the glove?

1 answer

Physics - drwls, Monday, June 11, 2012 at 1:24pm
Use this formula:
Force x distance = work done against mitt = Kinetic Energy change

Which leads to:
Force = (1/2)M V^2/d

If you want to start from F = m*a, you have to use an equation for the acceleration, a
a = V/t = v/[d/(v/2)] = v^2/(2d)
F = m*V^2/(2d)