Harold the Hurler is a physics student who is renowned for his baseball pitching

Question

Harold the Hurler is a physics student who is renowned for his baseball pitching arm. In order to determine the amount of work he performs in throwing a baseball, Harold devises an experiment. He stands at the bottom of a deep pit and hurls a 145-g baseball through an open third-floor window in a nearby building. Harold's aim is so accurate that the ball then smoothly enters the tube of the Baseball Absorber that Harold invented and patented. In this device the ball compresses a spring until it comes momentarily to rest, and this maximum amount of compression is recorded as 50.1 cm. The spring's force constant is 811 N/m, and the position of the baseball's momentary rest is 7.15 m above ground level. The point in the pit where the Hurler starts his pitch is 11.9 m below ground level. How much work does Harold perform on the baseball? Take g = 9.80 m/s2

Explanation / Answer

work - energy theorem.

Work done = kx^2 /2 + mg?H

= 811 x 0.501^2 /2 + 0.145 x 9.8 x (7.15 - (-11.9))

W =128.8509555J

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