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Re: .Bernoulli and curve balls.



Are you sure? Seems to me all the Bernoulli explanations (right or wrong)
have the ball curve in the direction of the spin. Isn't this what it does.
It is what happens with golf balls (backspin causes the ball to rise and
overspin to stay low), and I think tennis balls as well. I've never been
sure about baseball pitchers though. Since a right- handed pitcher is more
effective against left-handed batters (I think that's the way it goes),
then the ball should curve AWAY from the batter. If the ball is spinning
clockwise (viewed from the top as it moves towards the batter) AND if the
ball does curve in the direction of spin, then the pitcher's release would
have the ball come off the fingers in a kind of sliding motion with the
wrist open. If the ball curves toward the batter then the wrist would have
to snap to the pitchers left, across the body. Any BASEBALL experts out
there to explain (with authority) HOW to throw a curve and in what
direction it does curve (with or against the spin)?

*****************************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Department of Chemistry & Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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----------
From: David Dockstader <DRDOCK00@UKCC.UKY.EDU>


I do love the books that still try to use Bernoulli to explain curve
balls,
since they predict a curve that goes in the opposite direction from the
way
curve balls actually go!