Ball throw in an convertable car

[RichiE-RicH]

If you wer say to be going at 50mph in a convertable car and you wer to throw the ball straight up would the ball return to the car or would it drop behing the car?

[SaxyJag]

For some strange reason, it will drop back into the car. They usually show the 'trick' done with a ping-pong ball shot from a model train on a track. It lands back on the train.

It's all to do with forward momentum. I've seen it demonstrated and it's been explained to me times, but I still don't 'get' it.

[RichiE-RicH]

Thanks a lot saxy :)

[Mortartube]

The reason that it falls back into the car, is that the car, you and the ball are all travelling forwards at 50mph, so the ball falls back into the car before it gets a chance to lose much forward speed.

If you could fire the ball high enough into the air, air resistance would slow the balls forward motion enough for it to fall behind the car.

[stevie21]

If it was a ping pong ball, there's no way it'd land back in the car but something heavy enough to withstand the air resistance will be fine.

[bensonium]

Absolutely. If air resistance was not present, only relativity would apply. The ball would be thrown from the frame of reference of the car and so would have the same forward velocity of the car. This would not be changed by adding a vertical component of motion (throwing it in the air). Air resistance WOULD slow it down, though, and the ball is likely to fall behind the car. This would be due to the same backward force you feel if you lift your head above the slip stream of a motorbike.