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Escape velocity and related acceleration on the moon...?


I saw a commercial that made me think about the escape velocity of the moon - an astronaut was hitting a golf ball. I looked up the escape velocity and it is near 5300 mph.

My question is related to achieving that escape velocity if you hit a golf ball. While I doubt anyone can accelerate a golf ball to that speed with a golf club, how much faster *would* you hit a ball like that on the moon?

I'm thinking the reduced gravity and air would also reduce the friction, causing the ball to travel not only farther, but faster as well.

So how fast would a golf ball fly on the moon? Assume the same person would hit it on the earth and the moon, and also assume they can swing away on the moon without a clunky space suit on.

Thanks!

You wouldn't hit the ball significanly faster at all.
Gravity and atmosphere have nothing to do with the speed of the ball as soon as you hit it. Lets do a comparison.

A golfer on earth and on the moon both hit a ball.
Moongolfer has the advantage of not having to swing through air, so he might swing a little faster, but not much
Earthgolfer has the advantage of higher gravity to pull his club down and might swing a little faster.
I'd call this a draw. They both hit the ball at about the same speed.

The ball is now the air/vacuum
Moongolfer has the advantage of 1/6th gravity here. His ball will go significantly further. He also has the advantage of a vacuum, there's nothing to slow his ball down and it will hit the ground at the speed it left the tee.
Earthgolfer is doomed, he can give his ball a little spin to use the air to gain some altitude, but he can't beat moongolfer. His ball drops a lot faster in high gravity, and it slows down in the air, giving him even less distance.

So, while moongolfer might hit a hole in one in a nearby city, he won't hit his ball any faster then earthgolfer.

If it was me hitting the golf ball, and I played like I did yesterday, I would miss the thing alltogether.

Fact. Ball hit on moon will travel farther (time of flight aloft increased due to decreased gravity).
Fact. Ball hit on moon will travel no faster than ball hit on moon (Alcari explanation is nice, but Vo is a function of golfer's strength, technique, point of contact and is not influenced by gravity or atmospheric resistance...but clunky space suit versus golf T is definitely a factor)
Smart*** Fact. Nike Dri-Fit UV Tech Polo golfer's Tshirt is grossly inappropriate attire for moon course. It will certainly provide inadequate UV protection and you will likely be ejected from play.

The ball would go 6 times faster than on earth. This would not be counting the lack of air resistance. With out air resistance you could use Newtons second law; changing (-9.8) to 1/6(-9.8)

Vf=Vi+(a)Change in time

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