Have you ever heard of a ball that is impossible to hit? It sounds absurd at first. But it is here and is real! Mark Rober, a former engineer at NASA has done the impossible. Mark has just created a wiffle ball that changes its path in mid-air. Confused strikers are unable to hit the ball.
The discovery stormed the internet and many wondered how it actually works. Mark uses a Wiffle ball to create the “Impossible to hit” ball. Surprisingly, Mark used a kitchen-timer geared mechanism, a Brass cylinder and a spring to engineer the ball. The spring-loaded brass cylinder or the plug acts as a propellant.
The ball is wind-up using a simple geared mechanism. The brass plug is loaded into a spring inside the ball. The screw which is attached to the spring releases the Brass cylinder. The cylinder is pushed out 1.5 seconds after its complete wind-up.
The force exerted by the cylinder’s release pushes the ball to the opposite side. The trajectory of the ball is changed in mid-air. The Striker fails to hit as the prediction of the ball’s path changes in seconds.
A striker of the game observes and predicts the path of the ball before swinging the bat. The striker identifies whether he needs to swing, duck or do both with how the ball reaches. However, with this “Impossible to hit” ball, the striker’s prediction of where to swing becomes wrong.
Mark Rober uses the Coanda effect and propellant concept to understand the science behind the spinning ball. Brian Bannister, Kyle Schwarber and his league team supported Mark in doing the research.
