Question

A pitcher throws a softball toward home plate. When the ball hits the catchers mitt, its horizontal velocity is 64 meters/second. The softballs velocity goes to 0 meters/second in 1.6 seconds when caught. If the softball has a mass of 0.4 kilograms, what's the force of the impact? Use F=ma, where. The force of the impact is newtons

Answer 1

First, find the acceleration. Use a formula that involves acceleration, initial velocity, final velocity, and time.

$v_f=v_0+at$

• Initial velocity = 64 m/s.

,

• Final velocity = 0 m/s.

,

• Time = 1.6 s.

Use the given magnitudes to find a.

$\begin{gathered} 0=64\cdot\frac{m}{s}+a\cdot1.6s \\ a=\frac{-64\cdot\frac{m}{s}}{1.6s} \\ a=-40\cdot\frac{m}{s^2} \end{gathered}$

Then, use Newton's Second Law to find the force of impact.

$\begin{gathered} F=m\cdot a=0.4\operatorname{kg}\cdot(-40\cdot\frac{m}{s^2}) \\ F=-16N \end{gathered}$

Therefore, the magnitude of the force of impact is 16 Newtons.