Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Clearing the Green Monster at Fenway



Setting up the problem to determine the minimum velocity to hit a ball with to clear the Green Monster

24 comments:

  1. @cosmosgato you should look up "Laplace's demon" on wikipedia!

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  2. I never knew the Green Monster was that high! Would the same ideas apply if I was, say, shooting free throws or kicking field goals?

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  3. go soxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  4. I think this is a simplified example. 45 degrees is NOT the optimal angle in this case.

    45 degrees is only optimal when you are maximising range over flat ground.
    I think you could hit the ball a little slower and still clear 'the green monster'.

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  5. 8:00 you didn't write delta t *trollface*

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  6. @mnmmoose14 LOL @ "trollface" ahahahah

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  7. @mnmmoose14 LOL @ "trollface" ahahahah

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  8. @imaginenoreligion Yes, the optimal angle is 0.73196 radian (41.9382 degrees), and the required speed then becomes 32.3595ms^-2, rather than the 32.5 Sal concludes in the second part when he solves for 45 degrees. It's not a very significant difference.

    wolfram alpha: y = s*(x/(sin(θ)*s))*cos(θ) - (g*(x/(sin(θ)*s))^2)/2 where x = 96, y = 10.3, g = 9.8
    -> 10.3 = 96 cot(theta)-(45158.4 csc^2(theta))/s^2
    wolfram alpha: minimum s for 10.3 = 96 cot(theta)-(45158.4 csc^2(theta))/s^2

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  9. @puddingpimp of course in this case the difference is ~0.4%, smaller than other effects like drag that need to be taken into account in the real world.

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  10. @UltraMaXAtAXX Yes they would, but when shooting free throws, the optimal angle is not 45 degrees because its better to have arc on the ball

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  11. Would humidity play any real role in the calculations? Would you need more force to hit the ball as far if the humidity was 90% compared to 10%?
    Just wondering if there is a significant difference in the amount of energy needed to hit the ball the same distance.

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  12. I hope that once you finish with these new elementary classical physics videos that you move to more advanced classical mechanics.. and maybe even quantum mechanics?

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  13. @cosmosgato Heisenberg uncertainty principle, so no.

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  14. @Zellonium Yes, I could have very much used the help!!

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  15. First time Ive ever fallen asleep watching youtube :)

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  16. ahh fenway. made learning a bit more interesting but still when does a baseball player ever think of all this when he's hitting? haha anyways good video

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  17. Khan, you forgot to add a randomization factor (beta/alpha) that takes into account the additional force due to the use of STEROIDS by athletes.

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  18. i'm so glad i'm a poly sci major

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  19. @hitch4645 until you try to find a job

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  20. @LuckyCharms432 touche

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  21. @Cascade3891 lol.

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  22. so boring....wow sports

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  23. I'm actually curious IF 45 degrees is the ideal angle. In this case, the angle comes into play both to clear the green monster and to counter gravity. Though, as we know from ballistics, at a high enough velocity and a target close enough less force is required with a flatter trajectory. I'm quite sure that with some proper optimization the actual angle would be closer to 40. Of course, that is still not considering any spin the ball may have.

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  24. RisikokapitalgeberJune 28, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    I like the idea of adding CS, But a Virtual Training Jacket Or Certificates that you could print would be awesome. This would be Invaluable to Those without access to Traditional Education. If you would like to see the A.C.E. consider KA send an E-mail to: comments@ace.nche.edu

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