February 4, 2012
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmScience Explainer: The Physics of Football [Video]
Why Eli Manning and Tom Brady will offer terrific physics demonstrations during the Super Bowl
By The Editors
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Slow-motion replays of deep passes have mesmerized fans of American football for decades. The impossibly long, steady arc of a well-thrown ball is a thing of beauty. In contrast, players sometimes refer to wobbly passes as ugly ducks, although just why isn't entirely clear, since ducks fly pretty well.
In any case, the tight spirals coming out of the hands of the New York Giant's Eli Manning and the New England Patriot's Tom Brady are also demonstrations of physics, as Ainissa Ramirez, a Yale University professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, explains in her new Science Xplained video here.
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