Will a baseball or an orange fly farther when launched from a catapult?

Answer 1

It depends. Baseballs, at least the variety used from high school through the major leagues, are of a consistent volume, circumference, diameter, weight and shape. Oranges, on the other hand are wildly inconsistent. For the sake of argument, let's assume that the orange is the same size, weight, etc as the Baseball. Launching an orange from a catapult or a trebuchet would undoubtedly rip the orange skin open unless the orange was rock hard. Even if it did not rip open, the stress put on the orange would distort its shape and it would tumble end over end. The baseball would fly much farther.

If it is as hard as the baseball (presume the orange is frozen), the dimple pattern on the skin of the orange may make it fly as far or farther than a baseball. The dimple pattern on an orange is somewhat similar to that found on some older (circa 1900-1920) Golf balls. The laces or threads on a baseball will provide some wind resistance and perhaps cause it to curve, drop or fly less far than the "same" orange.

A series of attempts would need to be made and then average the results. When one considers how far a catapult or trebuchet can throw things, I would submit that the orange, even frozen would suffer damage upon landing, and subsequent attempts would give skewered results.

The final answer is that except in the most ideal conditions, the baseball would fly farther, and more often. Lets just be happy that the major leagues use baseballs instead of oranges, and they confine the tasty fruit to the citrus leagues.