Question

Give reasons for the following
Usually a fielder in a cricket match, takes a catch by moving his hands in the direction of motion of cricket ball.

Answer 1

While catching a fast-moving cricket ball, a fielder in the ground gradually pulls his hands backward with the moving ball. In doing so, the fielder increases the time during which the high velocity of the moving ball decreases to zero. Thus, the acceleration of the ball is decreased and therefore the impact of catching the fast-moving ball is also reduced. If the ball is stopped suddenly then its high velocity decreases to zero in a very short interval of time. Thus, the rate of change of momentum of the ball will be large. Therefore, a large force would have to be applied for holding the catch that may hurt the palm of the fielder.