Final answer:
To determine the force that the baseball player must apply to the baseball, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. The information provided is not sufficient to calculate the force accurately.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the force that the baseball player must apply to the baseball, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. The momentum of the baseball before catching it is equal to the momentum of the baseball after catching it.
The momentum of an object is given by the product of its mass and velocity. In this case, the mass of the baseball is 200 grams, or 0.2 kilograms, and the velocity is 42.1 m/s.
Before catching the baseball, the momentum is 0.2 kg * 42.1 m/s = 8.42 kg·m/s.
After catching the baseball, the momentum is 0, since it comes to rest in the player's mitt.
Therefore, the change in momentum is -8.42 kg·m/s.
Since the change in momentum is equal to the force multiplied by the time taken to change the momentum, we can use the given information of the distance the mitt recoils to calculate the force. The distance is 29.2 cm, or 0.292 meters, and the time is not given. Therefore, we cannot determine the force with the information provided.