While soccer isn’t as popular in North America as it is in Europe, people from all over the world still enjoy the game no matter where they are. Whether it’s actually playing the game or sitting in your friend’s apartment participating in FIFA 14 tournaments, soccer’s appeal continues to grow rapidly. I remember playing organized soccer as a kid, only to find out that I should stick to basketball. At the time, my foot work and mechanics weren’t up to par with the rest of the kids on the field. Looking back on my soccer playing days, I start to wonder what the formula is to kicking the perfect soccer ball in a game. Thanks to a few physics students at the University of Leicester, I may have found an answer.
In 2011, four master’s physics students at the University of Leicester’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, published a paper that explained the ideal way of kicking a soccer ball in order to make it bend into the goal. Those four students, Jasmine Sandhu, Amy Edgington, Matthew Grant and Naomi Rowe-Gurney believe they have discovered a formula that describes how a soccer ball curves when a player puts a spin on it. According to the group, there is a relationship between the “amount a football (soccer ball) bends in the air, the speed it is traveling and the angular velocity — or “spin” — applied to the ball.”
When a football spins in the air, it is subjected to a force called the Magnus force – which causes it to curl sideways from the direction is was originally kicked (Sandhu, Edgington, Grant, & Rowe-Gurney, 2012).
When a soccer ball is kicked, the distance that it bends is related to the ball’s radius, the density of air, the ball’s angular velocity, it’s velocity through the air, it’s mass, and the distance traveled by the ball in the direction it was kicked.
Here’s a picture of the equation:
![120629120328[1].jpg](http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/siowfa13/120629120328%5B1%5D.jpg)
� D: Distance a ball bends
� R: Ball’s radius
� A: Density of air
� E: Ball’s angular velocity
� V: Velocity through the air
� M: Ball’s mass
� X: Distance travelled by ball in the direction it was kicked
Example scenario given by the group: If a soccer player standing 15 metres away from the byline kicked an average football so that it was traveling at a velocity of 35 metres per second and had an angular velocity of 10 revolutions per second, the ball would bend around 5 metres towards the goal.
As a kid, I was overly optimistic about my soccer abilities before I even got on the field to actually play. I thought that I was good in everything, but I was in for a rude awakening. I know that the physics of soccer doesn’t stop here. There are plenty more aspects. For an example, a new ball was designed to be used during the 2010 World Cup. The ball has three dimensional moulding of the panels that produce a more rounded ball. A more rounded ball affects the spin that can be imparted.
Soccer consists of an abundance of fast pace movements and acrobatic exercise. Motion, friction, momentum, and aerodynamics all relate to the formula used above. Of course, Newton’s Laws are involved in the physics of soccer. In order to find more information on the role of Newton’s Laws 1, 2, and 3, click here.
Soccer is one of the world’s most beloved sports overall. But don’t be a fool like me and go onto a soccer field with all the confidence in the world, to only fail horribly at it. While the game sounds simple and fun, there’s tons of physics involve. But if you’re able to master of all the physics of soccer, you’ll be able to Bend it Like Beckham.
Overall I think this was a very cool study. The four students put together solid reasoning for how to make a soccer ball bend towards the goal by using a specific formula. When looking at how the formula is calculated, it all makes sense, but the example that they provided put it into a better perspective.
Links:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629120328.htm
https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/458/256
https://thescienceclassroom.wikispaces.com/Physics+of+Soccer
Jason,
Thank you for commenting on my blog post, I appreciate it! It seems that the game of soccer and we were not meant to be and that’s fine. Basketball is our thing. I thought that soccer would be an easy game to pick up as a child. I didn’t see the skill, let alone the science, behind becoming really good at the sport. Upon doing more research, I found an interesting article that explained the science behind the 2010 World Cup Soccer ball. Its a good read, check it out!!
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/the-science-behind-the-2010-world-cup-soccer-ball-adidas-jabulani/2596
Tajh,
Thank you for such an informative blog post. I played soccer in Elementary and Middle School but did not play beyond that point. I was also more of a Basketball player like yourself. I find that soccer is probably the easiest sport to pick up and play, especially considering all you need is a ball, but is one of the hardest sports to be really good at. It is actually quite remarkable how they came up with an equation to calculate the distance a ball bends. If only I could use the equation when I actually played would make it a lot easier. Not sure how the equation actually helps soccer players in real life, but I could see it helping the makers of Soccer games like Fifi calculate the bend in a simulation game. All in all, great blog.