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Originally Posted by TXMike
I believe this was a foul and do not question that Just trying to be straight on the math. Wouldn't the ball go up faster than it comes down, i.e. it would have to be moving faster than gravity in order to continue upwards?
Therefore, shouldn't the equation take that into account?
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Gravity is not a speed, it's a force. It is ALWAYS pulling object towards the center of the earth. It pulls on all objects at the same rate regardless of their speed or weight (distance from the earth matters but not in the range we're talking about...it would take a lot of miles to matter). It influences the speed of all objects by 32 feet per second per second....subtracting speed if the object is rising, increasing speed if the object is falling.
The only factor not considered is resistance due to air....the equation assumes a vacuum. Air will make the two times (up vs. down) different and will made the initial up and final down speeds different. The air resistance will be assisting gravity with the ball on the way up and will be opposing gravity with the ball on the way down. However, the magnatude of the effect of air resistance is negligible at the speeds and distances we're talking about. At some falling speed, the resistance due to air is exactly enough to offset gravity and an object will no longer speed up.
At a given height, the speed will be the same both going up and going down...just in opposite directions. When it hit him in the head, it was going the same speed as when it left his hand.