Baseball Curve Essay

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Internal Assessment ~ What Makes a Baseball Curve?

Baseball is a beautiful sport which was invented in 1839 by Abner Doubleday, who was later a Union general in the Civil War. My interest in baseball started as a young child, when I first learned how to throw a ball. I didn’t know it, but many factors are a part of the process of throwing a baseball, including spin, for which there are many different types. For example, we can measure the speed the ball is spinning at (Revolutions Per Minute - RPMs), the direction the ball is spinning, the mass of the ball, the air density, and the speed the ball is traveling at. In this exploration, I plan to discuss those factors and ultimately, the math behind what makes a baseball curve. I also plan to find the equation for how much a slider will curve.

The main reason a baseball curves is due to the Magnus Effect. Named for its founder, Gustav …show more content…

The type of pitch you throw affects the direction the ball curves in and also the speed of the ball, which are both useful tools to throwing off a batter. As a pitcher, I can throw four pitches: fastball (has backspin, goes straight), curveball (has topspin, curves down), slider (has sidespin, curves to the left), and a knuckleball (has very little to no spin, is uncontrollable). Mixing these pitches up on a batter help to keep him guessing as to what comes next. The knuckleball in particular is a very useful pitch. The ideal knuckleball has no spin on it. This means that air pressure on the ball is the same all around it. However, baseballs have 216 stitches on them, which stick out and hold the leather on a baseball. These stitches help to create friction with the passing air, and means that a knuckleball is uncontrollable. If I threw it right now, it could break in any direction possible. It’s impossible to guess which way it will go, making it an incredibly powerful tool to throw against

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