A baseball has a mass of 145 g. A pitcher throws the baseball so that it accelerates at a rate of 80 m/s2. How much force did the pitcher apply to the baseball?

1.8 N, 65 N, 11.6 N, or 0.6N?

1 answer

To find the force applied to the baseball, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states:

\[ F = m \cdot a \]

where:

  • \( F \) is the force,
  • \( m \) is the mass, and
  • \( a \) is the acceleration.

First, we need to convert the mass of the baseball from grams to kilograms, since the SI unit of mass is kilograms.

The mass of the baseball is:

\[ m = 145 , \text{g} = 0.145 , \text{kg} \] (since \( 1 , \text{kg} = 1000 , \text{g} \))

The acceleration is given as:

\[ a = 80 , \text{m/s}^2 \]

Now we can calculate the force:

\[ F = m \cdot a = 0.145 , \text{kg} \cdot 80 , \text{m/s}^2 \]

\[ F = 11.6 , \text{N} \]

So, the force applied to the baseball is 11.6 N.