Author Question: How to calculate time in flight for a baseball pitch? (Read 2963 times)

mydiamond

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 804
Starting speed: 89.6 mph
Ending speed: 77.7 mph
Distance travelled: 55 feet

How can I calculate the time in flight?
Is it possible to make an Excel formula so I can just plug in the numbers?



clippers!

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 828
Well, you know distance, v1, v2, and acceleration.

Try this equation:

d = t*(v2-v1)/2

Isolate for t.



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question

Garrulous

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 686
Sure.  Start with the basic position/acceleration formula:

x= v0(t) + 1/2a(t^2)

x=55/5280 (to put it in miles), v0=89.6, and a=average acceleration = change in velocity/change in time = 11.9mph/t

pump these in the formula and you get

55/5280 = 89.6t + (5.95/t)(t^2)

55/5280= 89.6t + 5.95t

Notice that the nasty t^2 term gets taken care of by the /t you carried in from the a formula, so rearrange this to isolate t and you have your answer:

(55/5280)/(89.6+5.95)

The excel formula should look like this:

(distance in miles)/(starting speed in mph + 1/2 the change in speed in mph)  = time in hours.

I'll assume you can do the unit conversion if you want this is seconds, and since you're going to code this I won't bother to punch the calculator for you.



 

Did you know?

Vampire bats have a natural anticoagulant in their saliva that permits continuous bleeding after they painlessly open a wound with their incisors. This capillary blood does not cause any significant blood loss to their victims.

Did you know?

Every 10 seconds, a person in the United States goes to the emergency room complaining of head pain. About 1.2 million visits are for acute migraine attacks.

Did you know?

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease in the world. Most children who develop asthma have symptoms before they are 5 years old.

Did you know?

The most dangerous mercury compound, dimethyl mercury, is so toxic that even a few microliters spilled on the skin can cause death. Mercury has been shown to accumulate in higher amounts in the following types of fish than other types: swordfish, shark, mackerel, tilefish, crab, and tuna.

Did you know?

Although puberty usually occurs in the early teenage years, the world's youngest parents were two Chinese children who had their first baby when they were 8 and 9 years of age.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library