
What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% speed of light? - molecule
https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/
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someguy111
If the batter swings and is hit by a pitch its a dead ball and its a strike.
If the pitch was in the strike zone then it would also be a dead ball and a
strike. Otherwise If the ball hits the batter first it is a hit by pitch, if
it hits the bat first its a strike. Lastly, If the batter hits the ball with
one or two feet outside of the batters box he is out.

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tempestn
Welp, since the batter didn't move, and parts of the ball are exploding out in
all directions, the nearest thing to the incoming ball-cloud would be a piece
of the batter. So I'd say he's right. Hit by ball.

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pontifier
I'm convinced this wouldn't happen. At this speed, only direct collisions of
nuclei would do anything. The ball would pass through the air and bat as if
they weren't there... and I don't believe it would deposit an appreciable
amount of energy at any particular place...

If you think I'm wrong, just think about how far high energy protons (cosmic
rays) travel through our atmosphere before they lose their energy. Each atom
of the baseball has a good probability of flying through the air for a
substantial distance before interacting with anything at all.

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eindiran
A number of years ago I read an idea (I think it might have been in James S.A.
Corey's Babylon's Ashes) that I find very compelling; any object becomes a
weapon given sufficiently high velocity.

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superpie
Randall's book "What If?," which is a collection of these absurd
hypotheticals, is for sale on Amazon for $3 right now. I've got it, it's a fun
read.

Edit: I should add that it's the eBook.

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craftinator
And this is why I read xkcd. I salute you Randall

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craftinator
Also, I believe since the batter will have left the plate before being hit by
the ball, it would be considered a strike... Or a ball, if no part of the ball
makes it through the strike zone.

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tempestn
Ah, that's interesting! Would the X-Ray cloud be sufficient to completely blow
the batter out of the box before any part of him is hit by the ball-cloud
nanoseconds later? I expect some piece of batter is going to be hit by some
matter that originated in the ball, within the batter's box.

