3 ms·
> the best one can do is throw the ball directly backwards What if you had a really good pitch, do this, and then waited until it comes around the Earth (sever
by js8 5y ago
> the best one can do is throw the ball directly backwards
What if you had a really good pitch, do this, and then waited until it comes around the Earth (several months, I guess) hurling back at you, and threw another ball against it? They would collide and fall?
- scrumbledober 5y agoit wouldn't come back around to you. you're moving at over 17000 mph. if you threw the ball backwards it would be in a slightly different orbit that wouldn't meet back up with you. The two orbits would look like a spirograph
- js8 5y agoI think you're right, they can't collide.
- thaumasiotes 5y agoWhat kind of model are you working with? Suppose you're orbiting at 10,000 units per second. You throw a ball backwards at -20 units per second, giving it a velocity of +9,980 units per second. Later, you throw another ball at the first ball with the same velocity. Traveling at +9,980 units per second, it will... obviously never be able to hit the first ball. But if the two balls did somehow collide, how could they end up falling to earth as a result? If your idea is that you sneak up on the first ball from behind (after all, you are going faster) and throw the second ball at it from behind, now you have a ball traveling at v = +10,020 colliding with another ball traveling at v = +9,980. Here at least the collision is possible, but how does falling become a possibility?
- btilly 5y agoThanks to the satellite paradox, when your orbits meets up again it would be ahead of you. If after some number of orbits the objects meet up, the golf ball will still be moving backwards relative to the satellite.