Question

Last night Mookie Betts hit a baseball at 32.5 m/s at a 45° angle. Betts

Answer 1

Answer:

a) Since the height of the baseball at 99 m was 8.93 m and the fence at that distance is 3m tall, the hit was a home run.

b) The total distance traveled by the baseball was 108.7 m.

Explanation:

a) To know if the hit was a home run we need to calculate the height of the ball at 99 m:

$y_{f} = y_{0} + v_{0_{y}}t - \frac{1}{2}gt^{2}$

Where:

$y_{f}$: is the final height =?

$y_{0}$: is the initial height = 1 m

$v_{0_{y}$: is the initial vertical velocity = v₀sin(45)

v₀: is the initial velocity = 32.5 m/s

g: is the gravity = 9.81 m/s²

t: is the time    

First, we need to find the time by using the following equation:

$t = \frac{x}{v_{0_{x}}} = \frac{99 m}{32.5 m/s*cos(45)} = 4.31 s$

Now, the height is:

$y_{f} = y_{0} + v_{0_{y}}t - \frac{1}{2}gt^{2} = 1m + 32.5 m/s*sin(45)*4.31 s - \frac{1}{2}9.81 m/s^{2}*(4.31 s)^{2} = 8.93 m$      

Since the height of the baseball at 99 m was 8.93 m and the fence at that distance is 3m tall, the hit was a home run.

b) To find the distance traveled by the baseball first we need to find the time of flight:

$y_{f} = y_{0} + v_{0_{y}}t - \frac{1}{2}gt^{2}$

$0 = 1 m + 32.5m/s*sin(45)t - \frac{1}{2}9.81 m/s^{2}t^{2}$

$1 m + 32.5m/s*sin(45)t - \frac{1}{2}9.81 m/s^{2}t^{2} = 0$

By solving the above quadratic equation we have:

t = 4.73 s

Finally, with that time we can find the distance traveled by the baseball:

$x = v_{0_{x}}*t = 32.5 m/s*cos(45)*4.73 s = 108.7 m$

Hence, the total distance traveled by the baseball was 108.7 m.

I hope it helps you!