How Do You Calculate The Percent Difference Of Kinetic Energy?
Nolan Ryan logged the fastest fastball pitch in baseball, with a top speed of just over a 100 miles an hour according to the Guinness Book of Records. An average major league fastball pokes along at a measly 90 miles an hour. Here’s how to calculate the percent difference of kinetic energy between Nolan Ryan’s record-setting fastball and the average toss from your standard issue belly-itcher. Convert the miles per hour velocity of both pitches to meters per second (see the metric conversion calculator in Resources below). Oh, this will be fun. For the Ryan Express, you get 45 meters per second. The 90 mile an hour pitch converts to 40 meters per second. Convert the mass of a standard major league baseball from ounces to kilograms. A standard major league baseball must mass between 5 and 5 1/4 oz. Using 5 oz. as our standard weight, you find that a standard major league baseball masses about 0.14 kg. Multiply the velocity of each pitch by itself. For Nolan Ryan, you get 2,025 meters squ
