The Physics of the Curve Ball :: Physics Research Papers

The Physics of the Curve Ball Dad said that one of these days I would figure it out, but to this day I am still clueless. I have always been able to throw a decent curve ball; you don’t just throw 6 one hit games in your high school career without one. I have always wondered why and how the ball curves through the air, and it wasn’t until now that I have really had the chance to research a topic that has puzzled me for so long. I would bet that even pitchers in the â€Å"Big show† don’t know how or why, but they obviously have the talent and ability. I don’t know when the first curveball was thrown or who threw it, but there is a lot of controversy out there about whether or not the curveball really exists. The only forces on the curveball were thought to be gravity and air resistance, ( ). So obviously, the path of the â€Å"curveball† was just an illusion, because the effects of gravity pulled the ball toward the ground, at 9.8 meters/squared seconds, as soon as the ball left the pitcher’s finger tips, and the air drag is just the force acting in the opposite direction slowing the ball as soon as the ball is hurled from the same point mentioned above. Concluding that the ball does not curve; the ball just follows the path of expected projectile motion. Even as technology presents itself, scientists have been able to show step by step, strobe photos of a curve ball and conclude that the curveball was just an optical illusion( ). I have to admit that I have seen this illusive curveball many, many times. Believe me, I know because I have been punched out by the umpire on a called strike three because I was just standing there like a deer caught in the headlights with my thumb up my, you know what, as the ball goes right by. I am not happy about being just another statistic in the score books, as I have been fooled by the â€Å"junk† as some in the game would call that pitch. But I do know one thing, there is no illusion there. As you are up to the plate, battling a pitcher with a good curveball, you know that the pitch coming right at you will get you to first base with a good feeling that you are a base runner instead of a strike out victim.