Question

use the following information to answer questions 13 - 16

1. why does the wind speed affect the final pitch speed of the baseball?

weather conditions and pitch speed
the graph shows how pitch speed is affected by wind speed. the line on the graph shows the general relationship between wind speed and pitch speed. points a, b, and c represent three of the same type of fast pitch all thrown at the same initial speed from a pitchers fingertips, but under different wind speeds.
an increase in wind speed results in less air resistance
a decrease in wind speed results in less air resistance
a decrease in wind speed results in less gravity acting on the baseball
gasses do not have weight, so air / wind cannot affect the speed of the baseball

Explanation:

• Air resistance is a force that opposes the motion of an object through the air.
• When wind speed increases, the relative speed between the baseball and the air (which affects air resistance) changes. But looking at the graph, as wind speed increases (moving from left to right on the x - axis), the final pitch speed (y - axis) decreases.
• When wind speed decreases, the air resistance acting against the baseball's motion is less. This is because air resistance is related to the relative velocity of the object (baseball) with respect to the air. A lower wind speed means a lower relative velocity (assuming the baseball is moving in the same direction as the wind is blowing against it in a way that air resistance is a factor), so less force opposing the baseball's motion.
• Gravity is a constant force (\(F = mg\), where \(m\) is the mass of the baseball and \(g\approx9.8\ m/s^{2}\) near the Earth's surface) and is not affected by wind speed.
• Gases (air is a mixture of gases) do have weight (\(F = mg\), where \(m\) is the mass of the gas).

Answer:

A decrease in wind speed results in less air resistance.