The Optimal Throwing Angle for a “Soft” Toss

The various aspects of projectile motion have been analyzed many times in this journal. As a sample, over the years, authors have investigated particular details of the path of a projectile and different situations for launching projectiles. Others have written about a nifty way to determine the maximum height of a projectile, finding the range of a projectile under very general circumstances, and the challenging question of how to hit a moving target. Finally, some authors have published articles detailing fun and interesting approaches to using projectile motion in the classroom or laboratory. This paper will examine a practical projectile motion question involving the game of catch. Specifically, we will find the angle at which a thrower should toss a ball such that its speed when caught is a minimum.