Saturday, April 13, 2013
Relativistic Baseball : What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?
(what-if.xkcd.com)
posted on April 13, 2013 at 11:36 AM by Avoid running at all times.-S. Paige to aroldis chapman, nolan ryan, physics, sidd finch
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17 comment(s)
The answer turns out to be “a lot of things”, and they all happen very quickly, and it doesn’t end well for the batter (or the pitcher). I sat down with some physics books, a Nolan Ryan action figure, and a bunch of videotapes of nuclear tests and tried to sort it all out. What follows is my best guess at a nanosecond-by-nanosecond portrait:
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< 1 2If the pitcher's throwing Mach 1, you'd want to take a sick day.
Sounds like a Mythbusters episode. If I figure out how to submit that I will. Instead I will leave you with:
Birdy, meet Mr. Johnson
there was a guy on ESPN years ago (can't think of his name) who used to imitate a Quebecois hockey player who described that clip as "like a pillow getting struck by lightning"
That's a clown question bro.
spectacular
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