What Causes Curveball To Drop

Is velocity the reason why a curveball drops? Statistics show that the velocity of a ball does not cause the curveball to drop. There are other variables involved like air pressure, rotation of the ball, and aerodynamics. These are very important factors when a baseball is thrown. A Big part of velocity is the air pressure, this is because of a separate topic called the Magnus Effect - a force exerted on a rapidly spinning cylinder or sphere moving through air in a direction at an angle to the axis of spin. This is what I am testing in this experiment using the average velocity formula v=(Df-Di)/t. I will test the change between the initial displacement of the ball and the final displacement divided by the time. Now Acceleration is the rate …show more content…
Air Pressure/Atmospheric Pressure: The weight of the atmosphere (air/gasses) on the earth and other objects located on the earth. Drag Force: Another well none word is air resistance, which refers to the friction forces of opposite motion. Angular Velocity is the rate when a rotating object moves through an angle about an axis. Speed of motion in a circle is the rate of change of angular shift in time. Linear Momentum: Product of the Mass of a moving object and its velocity. Velocity: The rate of movement in a particular direction; distance traveled per unit of time. Speed is the rate at which an object moves, expressed as the distance traveled in a given time; measured in mph (miles per hour). Unlike velocity, it is independent of the direction an object travels. Speed is only the magnitude (size) of the object (changes direction) . When velocity is the magnitude and direction the object will travel (doesn’t change direction). Velocity depends on another fact like in this case of a baseball would be air/atmospheric …show more content…
It is statistically proven that an average of all of the professional curveballs drop 17.5 inches from the straight line of the releases point till it reaches home plate. Now the farther away the pitcher is the more the ball will have to drop because curveballs do most of their curving in the last quarter of their trip. Considering that it takes less time for the ball to travel those last 15 feet (about 1/6 of a second) than it takes for the batter to swing the bat (about 1/5 of a second), hitters must begin their swings before the ball has started to show much curve. Now because if the pitcher has a farther distance from the plate that means that last quarter of the way it has more time to drop further due to the longer