Baseball wavelength

Question

A pitcher throws a ball at 60 miles per hour. the batter hits it and sends it flying away from him at 40 miles per hour. Is the deb Broglie wavelength longer before or after the ball is hit and why?

Answer 1

The DeBroglie wavelength, λ, is given by:

λ = h/p

where λ is the wavelength, h is Planck's constant and p is the baseball's momentum (p = mv). The wavelength is inversely proportional to the momentum. Momentum is mass times velocity (p = mv). Since the mass of the baseball doesn't change, the smaller velocity will have the larger wavelength.