Cortes 1

Sean Cortes

Mrs. Stevens

Life Science

21 February 2020

Which Type of Baseball Goes the Fastest?

Did you know that the fastest pitch ever recorded was 105.1 MPH by Aroldis Chapman?

That is an impressive speed for a human to be able to throw a baseball. That got me wondering

what if he used a different ball would that affect the speed of the pitch? So my experiment is

seeing if different balls go faster than others.​ I thought that if I put different baseballs into the

pitching machine, then the baseball that will fire with the fastest mph is going to be the MLB

baseball, and I found out that I was right.

What Is the Difference Between Little League, MLB, And Pitching Machine Baseballs?

The former angles player “​Andrelton Simmons” was playing with a baseball in his

hand until he realized that it was a BP ball. The baseball he was holding was much softer

than an MLB ball and he could tell that there was a change in the laces. Simmons could

tell that the balls were different and didn’t wanna play with a soft BP ball. There is also a

difference in little league baseballs, Triple-A baseballs were once manufactured at a

different facility but now are made that same as professional baseballs so at a point there

was a difference. Being able to tell what goes the fastest is going to be hard many factors

come into play with this the pitch, grip, and arm velocity. The grip can change the speed

of the ball and the way it’s released but when using a pitching machine the machine
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doesn’t use grip only the wheels firing the baseball out​ ​(Hoornstra).

How Does a Radar Gun Clock the Baseball?

Radar guns are used to detect the speed of a moving object at one specific time or

continually. There are two modes a “continuous” and a “trigger” mode these modes are

used for different situations. You must stand at least 25 feet away from the moving object

to let it track it. Remember to push the button when the ball moves towards you so you

can track the ball’s speed. I’m using the radar gun to track the speed of the ball as I put

them into the machine. The radar gun uses sensors to detect the speed in “mph” no matter

where you stand. The pitching machine should tract the speed at relatively the same

speed because the distance away shouldn’t affect what the balls speed is at. ​(Smith)

How Does a Pitching Machine Work?

A pitching machine has to be made in a specific way so that you can get the pitch

or speed that you like. The machine can change the speed on each wheel so the pitches

are different. The machine works by having three wheels that are moving so you get the

same speed and rotation of the ball when it comes out. You can change the speed of the

wheels or you can adjust or the pitch by the off-balanced speeds or axis. You can turn the

speed up to almost 110mph. The speed or axis has to stay the same throughout the

experiment and make sure that you get the same readings. Some machines use a

mechanism to fire the ball by themself and you don’t need to put the ball into the

machine ​(Pitch).
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Does the Type of Pitch Affect the Speed?

The grip affects the speed of the baseball. The exit velocity can change how fast or

slow the ball with go or carry to the attended target. The way you throw the ball affects

the way the ball travels or how fast it goes. Your arm slot also affects the speed of the

pitch and how it will move. Different pitches change the way the ball comes out and the

rotation. For example, a pitch called the change-up is supposed to fool the batter by

making the pitch look like a fastball but come out slower. Another pitch called a

curve-ball has a lot of rotation when it is released and is thrown a little slower than a

fastball but moves in the direction of where the spin is going ​(Exit).

What Impact Does Weight Have On the Speed a Projectile Travels?

Every ball travels in a specific path when it’s fired out of the machine that path is

usually affected by the exit velocity and the weight. The weight affects the ball's path

because once fired the ball’s weight of the ball will bring it down also where it’s released

can change where the ball goes. The 3 balls I’m using have different weights on them and

it could affect the speed on how it travels. The ball may fall short of the target but will the

speed vary from the distance and the weight. The weight can either help the ball travel or

weigh the ball down depending on what speed is set to and how the machine fires out the

baseball. The weight of the ball could affect the distance but it will never affect the speed

at which it is released from the machine. ​(Duran).

Does the Distance the Pitching Machine Is Set At effect the Speed? Why or Why Not?
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The distance had no effect on the speed but how long it takes to hit the intended target.

No matter how far you put the machine from a target it will still fire at that speed but it

may take 2 seconds from 50 feet and at 60 ft 3 seconds. The machine was built to fire at

that speed and it will stay at that speed depending on the ball the weight of the ball and

how fast the machine is going. No, the distance does not affect the speed because the

machine was built to fire the ball at that speed no matter the distance. The radar gun will

clock the gun when the ball is coming in range of the gun so the distance of the machine

from the ball doesn’t matter but the distance of the radar gun does ​(Pitching).

I thought that if I put different types of balls into a pitching machine, then the MLB ball

would come out being the fastest one, and I found out that I was correct. ​After testing each ball

in my experiment the MLB ball had the fastest average time over the other two. I tested the balls

by putting them into a pitching machine set at the same speed and used a radar gun to calculate

the average speeds. Testing each ball 4 times and calculating the average it was clear that the

MLB ball was the fastest of 54 MPH on average. The other balls came close with the BP ball

coming in at 53.75 and the Little League ball coming in at 52 MPH.

Works Cited

Duran, Bryan, Brandon, Kevin. “Does Mass Affect the Speed of a Falling Object?” ​Does Mass

Affect the Speed of a Falling Object?​ 2005,

www.csun.edu/scied/4-discrpeant-event/how_fast_do_things_fall/index.htm​.

“Exit Velocity vs. Pitch Speed.” ​Elevate Tutoring Services,​

www.localmathhelp.com/blog/exit-velocity-vs-pitch-speed​.

Hoornstra, J.P. “A Major-League Baseball vs. a Triple-A Ball: Can Players Tell the Difference?”

Orange County Register​, Orange County Register, 27 Sept. 2018,

www.ocregister.com/2018/09/26/a-major-league-baseball-vs-a-triple-a-ball-can-players-t

ell-the-difference/​.

“Pitchingmachinepro.com.” ​Pitching Machine Speeds Explained,​

www.pitchingmachinepro.com/Pitching-Machine-Speeds-s/31.htm​.

“Pitch Perfect.” ​ASME​, ​www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/pitch-perfec​t

Smith, Andrew. “How to Properly Use a Radar Gun.” ​SportsRec​, 15 Oct. 2019,

www.sportsrec.com/properly-use-radar-gun-4810105.html​.