Fastball?

What happens when you use a pitching machine to launch a ball at 100 kilometers an hour out the back of a truck moving at 100 kilometers an hour? You probably answered that question or one very much like it on a high school physics test. The math works out – so the question is, does it work out in real life too? Here’s a clip I found thanks again to the Diggers. Enjoy.

What I want to know is what would happen if you had Dice-K throw a scorcher of a “gyroball” off of a rollercoaster during a corkscrew. I bet the world would implode. Maybe they’ll try that next time, now that this mystery of nature has been settled.

9 comments - What do you think? Posted by Deas - June 5, 2007 at 6:13 pm

Categories: General Japan, Japanese TV Tags:

poonani

My question is this.
Why is the driver wearing protective gear yet the guy hanging on to the back of the van has no protection whatsoever apart from some woolen gloves?
http://www.transpacificradio.com/ Garrett

I was going to ask the same thing. The mystery is not what would happen to the ball, but what on Earth the producers were thinking.
the overthinker

The driver holds an A-Class Licence, which means he needs to act like an Ass and get all dressed up like he’s Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari when in fact he’s just driving a kei-truck (and at 100kph, that truck is probably closer to its limits than Schumacher’s Ferrari ever gets).
http://asianbeauty.tumblr.com/ Asian Beauty

That’s pretty nuts.
The ball looked to go straight down initially, and then bounces forward. I’d be curious to see it explained further.

http://l33tminion.livejournal.com/ L33tminion

The track isn’t perfectly flat (even if it’s level, it’s probably somewhat bumpy).

Also, it’s worth noting that the speed of the truck and the pitching machine probably aren’t perfectly matched, even if they are very close.

http://www.feitclub.com Feitclub

Another wonderful clip from Trivia no izumi – man, I can’t wait to watch this show again every week!
http://www.rockinginhakata.com Deas

I am pretty sure that if they had used a method to launch the ball without any (or with minimal) spin, that it would have stayed even closer to the original plumb line along which it fell. The pitching machine used wheels, though, which is why it lurched forward after making contact with the ground. Fun stuff. I still want to see Dice-K throw a gyroball from a rollercoaster during corkcrew. But that’s just me.

Also – great point about the driver being all geared up compared to the yahoo on the back of the truck. Didn’t pay it much attention the first time. Ha ha.

wes

i wonder if the wind from the truck moving forward pulls the ball too. also, did they check the speedometer on the truck to make sure 100kph was 100kph like they did with the pitching machine? or did they just do that because it was easy and made it look more sciencey

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Fastball?

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