In: Physics
Ted Williams hits a baseball with an initial velocity of 120 miles per hour (176 ft/s) at an angle θ = 35o to the horizontal. The ball is struck 3 feet above home plate. You watch as the ball goes over the outfield wall and lands in the bleachers. After you congratulate Ted on his hit, he tells you: “You think that was something! If there was no air resistance I could have hit that ball clear out of the stadium!” Since you are now taking PH131, you can easily verify Ted’s claim. Assume that the outer wall of the stadium is 100 feet high and 565 feet away from the home plate. Note: 1 mile = 1609 m, 1 foot = 0.3 m Figure 7:
(a) What are the horizontal and vertical components of the ball’s initial velocity? (b) How long does it take for the ball to fly the horizontal distance to the wall? (c) How high above the ground is the ball at that time? Is Ted Williams right? (d) What is the maximum hight above the ground which the ball reaches during its flight? (e) What is the horizontal distance the ball travels before hitting the ground? Bonus: What are the ball’s velocity components at the moment it hits the ground?