The Baseball   The Path of a Baseball A baseball will always follow a parabolic motion when hit with the bat. This is mainly due to the force of gravity acting on the baseball after it is hit. A baseball like most other things follows the three laws of motion that were created by Sir Isaac Newton. The three laws of motion are: Law 1. An object continues in its initial state of rest or motion with uniform velocity unless it is acted on by an unbalanced, or net external, force. Law 2. The acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to its mass and directly proportional to the net external force acting on it. Law 3. Forces always occur in pairs. When the ball is hit by the bat, the bat exchanges its momentum to the ball and the ball flies away. While the ball flies, both gravity and air will exert a force on the ball, with gravity pulling the ball downward. Here are all the forces that are effecting the ball:   http://library.thinkquest.org/11902/physics/range.html In knowing what the parabolic equations for motion are you can in general determine how far a ball will travel, and how long it will take to get to that point. The equation you could use would be: x = 2(Vxi)*(Vyi) / g Where x is the final position, Vxi is the initial horizontal velocity, Vyi is the initial vertical velocity, and g is the force of gravity which is normally 9.8 m/s/s. t = x / Vxi Where t is the time when, x is the current position, and Vxi is the initial horizontal velocity. The above equations work very well in ideal situations mainly without air. The air causes a friction on the ball called the drag force. Which is represented by Fd = (Cd)(p)(Av)^2 Where Fd is the drag force, Cd is the drag coefficient, p is the density of the air, A is the surface area of the object, and v is the velocity of the object.