How Does a Player Throw a Ball to Make it go Farther?
Everyone knows that the acceleration due to gravity is with us all the time. Drop a glass, and it will fall to the floor. Gravity acts on any thrown object, too. You know that your throw is eventually going to hit the ground, so if you want the ball to go farther, you have to keep it in the air longer, before gravity forces it to earth. To do this, a player must increase the angle of the throw when he or she wants it to carry a longer distance. Throwing to the plate from center field requires an arched throw, which will keep the ball in the air. If it is thrown flat, even with the same amount of force, it will hit the ground sooner. But that doesn’t mean that the pitcher, when throwing a fastball the short distance to the catcher’s mitt, can throw a flat ball. He or she, too, must put some arch in it, although not as much as the center fielder. As soon as the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, gravity begins pulling it downward. Even the fastest pitcher’s smokeball may drop as much as 2 f
