95 mph Pitch...

[gitano]

The World Series is on, and I'm watching the pitchers throw the fastball at 93 to 98 miles per hour, and I got to thinkin': Just how much energy does that thing have when it hits a batter? So...:D

A regulation baseball weighs between 5 and 5.25 ounces. There are 437.5 grains in an ounce, so an official baseball weighs 5.25 * 437.5 grains. (2296.875 grains) Let's round that to 2295 grains.

Taking an average value between 93 and 98 miles per hour - say 95 - and converting that to feet per second, we have (95 m/h * 5280 feet/mile) / (60 seconds/minute * 60 minutes/hour) = 1393 feet per second.

Now think about that.

The average MV of a standard .45 ACP bullet weighing 230 grains, out of a 1911 pistol, is about 830 feet per second!

That 230-grain bullet doing 830 f/s has 288 ft-lb of energy at the muzzle. That 2295-grain baseball doing 1393 f/s, has EIGHT THOUSAND NINETY-THREE (8093) FOOT POUNDS of energy!

All of a sudden, I have greater respect for those guys that get hit with Major League pitches!

However, it does illustrate the significance of sectional density and frontal area.

Paul

[gitano]

Since I brought it up...

The SD of the .45 is 0.162.
The SD of the baseball is 0.036.

The frontal area of the .45 is  0.145 square inches.
The frontal area of the baseball is 7.06 square inches.

The ft-lbs per square inch for each projectile are:
.45 ACP = 1986 ft-lb per square inch
Baseball = 1146 ft-lb per square inch
The baseball's "pokiness" is only 57% that of the .45's. Still, that baseball is gonna leave a mark...


Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Idle hands are the devils workshop...

[Paul Hoskins]

Imagine being in the batters position facing Randy Johnson on one of his bad days. ......:huh:......Paul H  ....

[gitano]

Idle hands are the devils workshop...

Truer words never spoken!

Paul