Question

While catching a baseball that is traveling horizontally with a speed of 18 m/s, the player's glove and arm move straight backward 28 cm from the time of contact to the time the ball comes to rest. If the ball has a mass of 0.14 kg, what is the magnitude of the average force on the ball during that interval?

Answer 1

You can find the time over which the deceleration occurs from \[\Delta x = 1/2(v _{f} + v _{i}) t\] Then since the change in momentum is equal to the average force times the time, you can find the average force from\[F = m(v _{f} - v _{i})/t\]

Answer 2

Thank-you! I appreciate you help!