Visualizing science through relatable concepts has been a hallmark of good teaching for decades. Mr. Wizard made a career of it, as did Bill Nye. To help garner a better understanding of the gravitational pull of different planets, an astronomer has posed a simple question: How far could an average person throw a baseball on one?
The result is this video produced by James O’Donoghue, which simulates the ball just about making it over a car on Earth as well as soaring over the Great Pyramid of Giza on the dwarf planet Pluto.
According to Insider, O’Donoghue created the animation to illustrate how each planet’s gravitational pull affects the ball’s trajectory. It’s done in real time, too, which means you can see the ball plop to the ground in seconds on Earth while Pluto’s ball remains aloft for a staggering 47 seconds.
To see what happens to baseballs on Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, check out the video above.
[h/t Insider]
Jake Rossen
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