Extra Terrestrial Baseball Challenge

Wild guess here without getting to deep ito the formulas

Ignoring the lessened drag on the bat

Ignoring the height of the wall (couldn't find a standard height - 8' to 37')

The distance increase factor due to the lessened drag caused by thinner atmosphere is 1/0.6 = 1.666...

The distance increase factor due to lessened gravity is (1/0.38)² = 6.925208

resultant distance at same initial velocity and attack angle is 1.666... X 6.925208 X 410feet = 4732.225 feet

If you include the decreased drag on the bat, to acheive the same initial speed, it is more like 7877.042 feet

oops

I forgot the ball would be travelling faster from the pitcher.

It would also be harder to put a curve on the ball.

Either way, I wouldn't want to be the outfielder

"The distance increase factor due to the lessened drag caused by thinner atmosphere is 1/0.6 = 1.666..."

Should be 0.6 percent or 1/0.006 = 166.6

OOOPs missed the percent.

Thanks

just multiply everything by a hundred.

Wow, You would have to play in dune buggies. If everyone outfielder covered a square mile you would need 11,907 outfielders

I think that a decrease in the drag factor by 166 will not increase the distance by 166. The gravity curve will take over. With little or no drag, the gravity curve will be close to ideal. Therefore the distance would be

6.925208 X 410 = 2839.33 feet or a little over half a mile

This is a little more reasonable.

That would work if the ball came to a stop right at the fence line. My guess is that after that herring jumps, the drag difference will add about 50 feet, due to the longer flight time, in spite of the significantly lower drag ratio. From the original angle/velocity/vector speed, what is the decrease in flight path due to drag here on earth? Then you can factor in your drag/flight time factors.

RichH

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajectory_of_a_projectile

The drag in earths atmosphere reduces the range to 41 percent of its maximum distance allowed by gravity

In other words, if there was no atmosphere on earth, the ball would travel ~ 2 1/2 times farther.

On Mars the atmosphere is almost non existent, so the ball's trajectory would look alot like the large curve which is the curve due to gravity.

If you apply the math correction pointed out by Guest #8 which was off by 2 decimal places, The distance approaches 90 miles (statute).

After careful consideration of these numbers, I have concluded that they are not germaine to my salvation

I can't see the plate for all the dust!

It's over here!

Careful! You've just tripped over the remains of Beagle_2.

Given that humans need to breathe oxygen at all times and the Martian atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, the entire team must be outfitted with bulky, heavy space suits. In view of this, would it even be a good idea to play baseball on Mars in the very first place?

Doh! Mars is already terraformed, or they wouldn't be playing baseball!

O.K. Since the Terra-forming and Baseball are out of the way, we still have the lower gravity to play with (same atmospheric density as earth)...Now Golf!

OK it is partially terraformed, still thin atmosphere, and the baseball team is made up of Sherpa

Does any of this take into account that those training in heavy G conditions could jump like grasshoppers and catch the ball before it goes over the wall?

The one question everyone forgot to ask is: Will the ball even stay in Mars atmosphere if hit that hard.

On mars: velocity to reach low orbit is 12,700 km per hour (7937 miles per hour) Escape velocity is 18,000 km per hour (11,250 miles per hour) I don't think anyone will hit it that hard

I would suggest leaving the fence at the same distance, scoring when hit, with a foul declared if the ball goes over - the skill would then be in keeping the ball within the limits, not just hit as hard as possible.

Theoretically, this would give the same chance, as the target area is the same size.

(ps: it is probably obvious that baseball is not a common sport in Scotland)

One thing for sure, the free agents would have to represent themselves. You never know, maybe the greys will have deep pockets and buy the Yankees. How else can Mark and CC keep their salaries? The current depth of the roster would be mostly outfielders staggered in offset rows about 5 players deep with about 300+ ft spacing back to the fence. It would be nice to see what ichiro might pull off. I'll be conservative and say Ichiro will throw you out from 600 ft. Don't forget with greater bat speed and pitching velocity reaching 180mph+ there will be a need for some infield dimension modifications. If you can't hit a ball coming from a 125 foot distance measured to the new pitching mound location then maybe Nike will remarket those high definition amber contact lens that were touted as an unfair advantage and outfielders certainly would need magnified vision to even see the ball and bat contact. You wouldn't want to get caught sleeping in the outfield at those distances. Motorola will have to develope team wireless voip ear pieces so there can be audible team communication. We wouldn't want the batter to get a head start rushing the mound either. It would be a while before anyone could give assistance at that distance. Doctors can forget shoulder or Tommy john repair with lower forces but, they could always stiffen up the bats and add some weight to the ball. Maybe add some higher threads too so the pitcher could throw some junk. Gotta have junk!! Mays would would be a huge asset if they discover the cure for old age soon. He would cover 70% of the outfield anyway now. At least his hat wouldn't fly off when he ran the bases. When are tryouts?