A question on calculating time

Question

A pitcher throws a baseball to the batter 40 m/s and the batter hits the ball at 50 m/s. Assuming that the length from the mound to home plate is 18.4 m, how long will it take for the ball to return to the pitcher?

 

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Do the initial and final velocities have to be considered?

Answer 1

Absolutely you need to consider the initial and final velocities!

 

t₁ = time from pitcher to batter = d/v₁ = (18.4 m)/(40 m/s) = 0.46 s

 

t₂ = time from batter to pitcher = d/v₂ = (18.4 m)/(50 m/s) ≅ 0.368 s

 

t = t₁ + t₂ = (0.46 + 0.368) s = 0.828 s