Why this football pass seems physically impossible

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  • Опубликовано: 23 янв 2025

Комментарии • 364

  • @MynameisBrianZX
    @MynameisBrianZX 2 года назад +439

    the most horrifying sentence a physics undergraduate will hear: today we stop assuming no air resistance

    • @jaxxrr
      @jaxxrr 2 года назад +2

      also why do you call it football when its clearly a handegg

    • @zumabbar
      @zumabbar Год назад +3

      no more spherical cows. now it's prolate spherical cows

  • @mhoop1
    @mhoop1 2 года назад +356

    The fun part is if you put a really large amount of spin on it, the slight imbalance in the ball caused by the laces can let you curve the path the ball follows. For a right-handed person the ball will curve to the right, and the opposite for a left-handed person. Also, that increased spin will make the ball almost dive downward at the end, it doesn't follow the 'perfect arch' as shown in the diagrams.
    Source- I used to curve footballs around trees when people didn't believe me.
    it works even easier with Nerf footballs, I think the digging in of your fingers to the ball lets you really put the rotation on it.
    Even more interesting is a really tight spiral doesn't fly as well as one that's just a ~little~ bit wobbly. That explanation is one I'd like to see.

    • @Buster_Chestnut
      @Buster_Chestnut 2 года назад +13

      lol. I just commented something similar. I totally used to whip a football over LBs heads with a wicked dip/curve. it was nasty but my elbow aches to this day from making those types of throws. (and yes, the nerf ones were even nastier on the curve.)

    • @K3rr-wth
      @K3rr-wth 2 года назад +5

      Fun part: 1:01-1:02 XD

    • @easyenetwork2023
      @easyenetwork2023 10 месяцев назад

      That is why players throw sidearm to get around defenders.

  • @watchdealer11
    @watchdealer11 2 года назад +319

    This was a bonus question on my physics final back when I was completing my master's!

    • @TheGobblersGetback
      @TheGobblersGetback 2 года назад +13

      Welp…Did you pass the question or nah?…🤔😂😂👍🏿

    • @kingace6186
      @kingace6186 2 года назад +1

      I hope you answered it correctly.

  • @Tinil0
    @Tinil0 2 года назад +263

    "It's simple enough for anyone...that's interested and paying attention...to understand"
    This guy teaches students.

  • @FlabbyPigLegs
    @FlabbyPigLegs 2 года назад +49

    Whoever that physicist is he is literally the epitome of every old man professor I’ve had.

    • @ml48963
      @ml48963 2 года назад

      He's not a good one imo

  • @Buster_Chestnut
    @Buster_Chestnut 2 года назад +51

    (former QB here)
    I used to be able to throw a wicked pass where it would start low dip JUST over the Linebacker's heads and into my WR running a post. It was some nasty physics at the expense of my elbow. It wasn't an all the time throw but in the moment it made defenders look SILLY.
    Thanks for explaining some of the science behind it. Although I was a football player for 15 years, I was a science and math nerd first and foremost. Always enjoy the content!

    • @jimh1996
      @jimh1996 2 года назад

      Liar

    • @southparklion
      @southparklion 2 года назад +2

      ^^^I found Uncle Rico on RUclips!

    • @Buster_Chestnut
      @Buster_Chestnut 2 года назад +2

      @@southparklion not too far off. I never said I could still do that. 3 shoulder separations took a toll on the abilities.

  • @frankG335
    @frankG335 2 года назад +13

    "Everything is simple once it's explained." So true!

  • @nflbetteroldstyle
    @nflbetteroldstyle 2 года назад +68

    Still the best documentary channel on YT.

    • @savagepro9060
      @savagepro9060 2 года назад +2

      that still does not make it football

  • @edgekiller3
    @edgekiller3 2 года назад +28

    My man was throwing the ball like the actors in all American

    • @TheWizardGamez
      @TheWizardGamez 2 года назад +2

      I’m about to say. Like, bro had to SEARCH how to throw a spiral… cmon man.

  • @mchobo
    @mchobo 2 года назад +252

    If this holds true, then throwing in a vacuum would mean it would more or less hold it's initial angle

    • @TeKaMOTO
      @TeKaMOTO 2 года назад +28

      Artemis missions are in planning, so pitch this idea to NASA and get it tested.

    • @DrewMokris
      @DrewMokris 2 года назад +23

      Honestly shocked vacuums weren't even mentioned in this video, that seems like the obvious next step to testing the claim!

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio 2 года назад +5

      @@justayoutuber1906 ya now time to acquire a whole auditorium vaccum chamber for this "test", bigger than what nasa uses for their testing

    • @gordon1545
      @gordon1545 2 года назад +4

      @@TeKaMOTO And think how far you could throw the thing on the moon!

    • @Mavkka
      @Mavkka 2 года назад +5

      This is an interesting thought, because without the air, it would probably keep the "angle" but without air resistance on the spinning ball, it might just tumble, flip, or yaw uncontrollably, right?

  • @Youthure
    @Youthure 2 года назад +108

    Vox found yet another topic I never knew I would find interesting

  • @neonbunnies9596
    @neonbunnies9596 2 года назад +7

    0:35 POV: You're taking a walk down the park and you're seeing a man being recorded throwing random groceries into the air

  • @SamSouthall
    @SamSouthall 2 года назад +43

    Most of the world tuned in expecting to see someone explain that Benjamim Pavard pass

    • @shitmypants5275
      @shitmypants5275 2 года назад +10

      I was disappointed. It's handegg

    • @savagepro9060
      @savagepro9060 2 года назад +1

      or Pele, or Maradona, or Messi

    • @savagepro9060
      @savagepro9060 2 года назад

      @@shitmypants5275 hand me the egg

    • @Saturnome
      @Saturnome 2 года назад +6

      In Quebec, caught between american and european cultural sensibilities, we're so lost about what "football" is that we just play hockey.

    • @AC-im4hi
      @AC-im4hi 2 года назад +1

      Soccer is a sport for Women and children. No self respecting man would want to play a non contact sport.

  • @liambohl
    @liambohl 2 года назад +4

    The important force acting on the top here is not gravity, but the *normal force* of the table pushing up on it. That normal force acts very much like the air pressure pushing back on the football.

  • @manginitus2
    @manginitus2 2 года назад +1

    It physically hurts me to watch this man try to throw a football.

  • @ShreyasGopal
    @ShreyasGopal 2 года назад +7

    I clicked on the video thinking it’s football.. like the one played with the foot

    • @MrMustangMan
      @MrMustangMan 2 года назад +2

      [soccer]⚽

    • @pyrotechnic96
      @pyrotechnic96 2 года назад +5

      Did the thumbnail not tip you off?

    • @ShreyasGopal
      @ShreyasGopal 2 года назад

      @@pyrotechnic96 I came to the video from the mobile notification

    • @ShreyasGopal
      @ShreyasGopal 2 года назад

      @@MrMustangMan hand egg

  • @adamgibson473
    @adamgibson473 2 года назад +13

    Man never threw an object in his life. That was hard to watch.

    • @travis8674
      @travis8674 2 года назад

      They could have gotten anyone else in an office full of people to throw a ball, but the writer decided he wanted more camera time to show off his lack of athleticism.

  • @vee-liemsaw9064
    @vee-liemsaw9064 2 года назад +2

    I thought it is about angular momentum. The spin generates an angular momentum vector pointing parallel to its direction of motion. (Parallel because depending on the direction of the spin, it is either forward- or backward- pointing.)
    In the absence of a net external force, it would want to maintain that angular momentum direction. Since gravity is pulling it downwards, there is a net external torque that changes the angular momentum direction.
    That's all.
    In the case of the top, gravity generates no torque if the top is spinning exactly vertically. When the top tends to fall off, I guess (I am being a bit hand-wavy here... so this is questionable) that gravity generates a net torque in the opposite direction the fall, hence correcting the fall and balancing it. I think this is analogous to why a moving bicycle would not fall off and balances itself.

  • @AmeenSeytu
    @AmeenSeytu 2 года назад +4

    These videos are so informative! This is exactly the type of information that I didn't know I wanted until I saw it 🥰❤️ Thanks Vox.

  • @landlocked_lifts332
    @landlocked_lifts332 2 года назад +1

    Watching this person throw things causes me physical pain.

  • @taiton2661
    @taiton2661 2 года назад +3

    football is round...thats a rubgy ball...

  • @JimmyTuxTv
    @JimmyTuxTv 2 года назад +7

    Knowledge I never knew I needed until 30secs into the video

  • @seanm7445
    @seanm7445 2 года назад +1

    I like his ‘Light is a wave’ sign in the background!
    ;)

  • @CamD9203
    @CamD9203 2 года назад +3

    this video is the perfect exemplification that you either live or understand life, not both at the same time.

  • @andyfulcher4132
    @andyfulcher4132 2 года назад +2

    Do one of these on disc golf please

  • @darexinfinity
    @darexinfinity 2 года назад +1

    Interesting to see a football video without bashing the topic.

  • @martinsto8190
    @martinsto8190 2 года назад +2

    hence why there are more shells and fewer cannonballs to be used as explosive projectiles.

  • @jandew314
    @jandew314 2 года назад

    Gravity isn't "the secondary force" in the free-fall; it's irrelevant. You can imagine a gyroscope on the space station: it wouldn't wobble, but it would still be pulled down by gravity. The table pushing up on the top was the actual source of the reference axis in the first case, so when falling through the air, the ball only feels the air pushing on it.
    This stuck out to me because the force of gravity is definitely much stronger than the force of the air resistance, so it can't be "secondary" in terms of strength. What's crucial is that the air resistance is pushing in different ways on different parts of the ball, while gravity pulls on all parts of the ball in the same way. Thus the air resistance is able to create a torque, a force that's off-center of the rotation of the ball.

  • @theouhrik1501
    @theouhrik1501 2 года назад +9

    *A frisbee explanation would be cool!* The football turning from air resistance force, so that the path is colinear with it seems pretty obvious. For an alternative explanation: the rotational axis (found from Right Hand Rule) of the object wants to *balance* forces so it aligns with the acting force axis i.e. *Stability*

  • @sumrandumguy7177
    @sumrandumguy7177 Год назад +1

    bullets and artillery/howitzer/tank/canon/etc. shells do the exact same thing. those have been around longer than footballs

  • @Ben.DWater
    @Ben.DWater 2 года назад +3

    "It follows the trajectory gravity laid out for it" 🤣

  • @Foamboard-Flyby
    @Foamboard-Flyby 2 года назад +1

    Saying that the ball 'wants' to do x y and z is the least helpful explanation. This video did not actually explain anything but just claimed laws that the ball 'wants' to follow

  • @murtadi007
    @murtadi007 2 года назад +4

    Edward, why didn’t you mention anything about the laces on the ball?

  • @T_Mo271
    @T_Mo271 2 года назад

    That's a really incomprehensible explanation.

  • @jasonvilash8580
    @jasonvilash8580 2 года назад +6

    1:07 the guys last name tho 😂😂😂

  • @devonlee8096
    @devonlee8096 2 года назад +2

    Great video and excellent reporting!

  • @rawat1160
    @rawat1160 2 года назад +2

    🏈 is not Football ⚽ is.

  • @tndewandono
    @tndewandono 2 года назад +1

    That is not football. That is Handegg

  • @BobSchmidt
    @BobSchmidt 2 года назад +1

    wth...i was sitting around thinking about this the other day. I know google listens to my conversations, but this was only in my head!

  • @AussieTVMusic
    @AussieTVMusic 2 года назад +1

    It's the same with the Torpedo Punt in Australian Football.

  • @melliwmw6667
    @melliwmw6667 2 года назад +5

    It is the same with a bullet so I don’t really understand why this would be that special

  • @thegreatfalcon5
    @thegreatfalcon5 2 года назад +1

    and....... no link to the paper in the description..

  • @TheREALLYBADGAMERS
    @TheREALLYBADGAMERS 2 года назад +20

    Didn't gunsmiths solve this problem when moving from spherical projectiles to bullets and rifled barrels?

    • @MrMustangMan
      @MrMustangMan 2 года назад

      yes

    • @dorkwell
      @dorkwell 2 года назад +2

      They didn't explain why it worked, they just knew it did

  • @sanraki
    @sanraki 2 года назад +1

    So is the amount of spin the difference between a javelin landing head first and sticking to the field and a sliding belly landing?

    • @dryzalizer
      @dryzalizer 2 года назад +1

      Yes, in fact I read that javelins were redesigned in the 1980s to spin more easily and prevent so many of those belly landings.

  • @andrewmcglashan9770
    @andrewmcglashan9770 2 года назад +2

    Timothy what

  • @unkn0wn455
    @unkn0wn455 2 года назад +1

    wouldnt this be the same case for field artillery

  • @garrettmorano3038
    @garrettmorano3038 2 года назад

    The spin is doing only one thing, stabilizing the longitudinal axis. Aka minimizing the angular momentum of the longitudinal axis. A spear thrown has the exact same. Trajectory. Because it is launched at or near the center of mass, the anguar momentum of the longitudinal axis is not changed. The tip of the ball and the spear then follows a parabolic motion. Drag has no part in changing the flight profile. Since lift is minimal.

  • @FengLengshun
    @FengLengshun 2 года назад +2

    Lesson 3: Believe in the spin, Johnny!

  • @dimebag9814
    @dimebag9814 2 года назад +3

    How much change would a baseball take if it were slightly more oblong than being 'perfectly' round?

  • @ZacDynasty
    @ZacDynasty 2 года назад +3

    it's the way the ball is engineered

  • @fen0221
    @fen0221 2 года назад +1

    That is not a ball. That’s a hand egg

  • @IRanOutOfPhrases
    @IRanOutOfPhrases 2 года назад +1

    So I learned a bonus fact. I wondered how this could be explained about javelin throws or bow & arrow shots. Apparently those also spin through the air after looking up slo-mo vids of them.

    • @Ninjalectual
      @Ninjalectual 2 года назад +1

      Arrows also have fletching, which plays a much bigger role I would assume

    • @MrHantz101
      @MrHantz101 Год назад

      Darts do the same thing. If you throw a dart without any spin, it'll just bounce off the board.

  • @scose
    @scose 2 года назад +1

    No link to the paper in the description?

  • @Life_Inspection
    @Life_Inspection 2 года назад

    I threw a football for the first time in my life a few weeks ago and this exact question came to mind.

  • @michaelbrennan5433
    @michaelbrennan5433 2 года назад +2

    Rule #3. Never trust a man who wears a bow tie outside a wedding

  • @tuxedobob2
    @tuxedobob2 2 года назад

    This reminded me of Veritasium videos. Good job, Vox!

  • @napoleonibonaparte7198
    @napoleonibonaparte7198 2 года назад +2

    Is that guy happy he took 20 years to publish?

  • @empputrubaduu4725
    @empputrubaduu4725 2 года назад

    I feel like this is so self explanatory

  • @avnish_s
    @avnish_s 2 года назад

    I want to give ' THANKS' to you guys but the option's not showing....

  • @SkegAudio
    @SkegAudio 2 года назад

    Before I watch the video I'm going to guess it is does its axial momentum due to its spin and due to fluid mechanical effects of the air towards the ball.

  • @mistersquirrel0
    @mistersquirrel0 2 года назад +3

    "What's a spiral?" - Fran Tarkenton

  • @bbb12345
    @bbb12345 2 года назад +3

    Didn’t understand it. Now I’m more confused. 😂

    • @adamgibson473
      @adamgibson473 2 года назад

      The angle of least resistance to the air.

  • @Dylan-kw8pz
    @Dylan-kw8pz 2 года назад

    Someone: "Why does the ball stay facing the air direction?"
    Vox: "Because it wants to"
    Wow great explanation 👏👏👏

  • @junahn1907
    @junahn1907 2 года назад

    I assume these are the same forces at play with a rifled bullet or artillery shell.

  • @nf9232
    @nf9232 2 года назад +1

    How does Vox even come up with these questions

  • @viyer22
    @viyer22 2 года назад +2

    Does the same physics apply to a javelin's/arrow's path through the air?

    • @viyer22
      @viyer22 2 года назад

      I did some googling and found out that in the case of arrows and javelin the weighted front end causes the dip.

  • @stonedrecluse2833
    @stonedrecluse2833 2 года назад +3

    Frankly, most of classic physics problems can be understood by considering the conservation laws.

  • @CUBOSH
    @CUBOSH 2 года назад +1

    josh allen does not arc he just emits lasers

  • @oregonbasketball6909
    @oregonbasketball6909 2 года назад +5

    Those throws literally hurt my soul. You have to use your legs to throw a football and shoot a basketball, that’s the number 1 thing I see from ppl who don’t play sports, your legs and your base matter. If you’ve never heard the term athletic stance, you want to have your legs slightly wider than your shoulders with your knees slightly bent.

    • @MrMustangMan
      @MrMustangMan 2 года назад

      same with tennis, golf, baseball

    • @dryzalizer
      @dryzalizer 2 года назад +1

      Yeah, really should have had someone who knows how to throw a spiral demonstrating as well.

    • @dylanf3108
      @dylanf3108 2 года назад

      Exactly a throw is about full body mechanics not just the arm but how the feet are set, the distance between the feet, how fluid the motion is, the hips, etc etc. So much goes into it.

  • @debrajbhowmik1356
    @debrajbhowmik1356 2 года назад +11

    I thought the video was about football 🙂

  • @Blake-if8id
    @Blake-if8id Год назад

    Well, throwing a banana in a tight spiral did not get me on the team...but...I did save some money recently on car insurance.

  • @richmiller9844
    @richmiller9844 2 года назад +1

    Magnus effect.

  • @luisandresguevararamirez2905
    @luisandresguevararamirez2905 2 года назад +4

    “Light is a particle”
    Someone isn’t accepting light’s duality

  • @viswamurthy007
    @viswamurthy007 2 года назад

    very very interesting ..thanks for sharing

  • @jackmorrison8030
    @jackmorrison8030 2 года назад

    Every who gets interested in science gets interested because of this type of teacher/professor

  • @Derpy1969
    @Derpy1969 2 года назад +1

    Anything that happens in the real world that science can’t explain shows you that we don’t know enough about physics.

  • @savagepro9060
    @savagepro9060 2 года назад +35

    Vox [American]: Why this football pass seems physically impossible?
    Rest of the World: It's because this is NOT football

    • @curiouscommand5916
      @curiouscommand5916 2 года назад +1

      Gridiron Football. Better?

    • @savagepro9060
      @savagepro9060 2 года назад +1

      @@curiouscommand5916 Yes, anything, but football

    • @phillyphilly2095
      @phillyphilly2095 2 года назад +2

      The video is intended for Americans, and in the US everyone knows what "football" means.

    • @sauravsuresh
      @sauravsuresh 2 года назад

      @@phillyphilly2095 * not everyone

    • @skhndkchannel
      @skhndkchannel 2 года назад

      Football is supposed to be played by Foot ,not hand 😂

  • @bl5752
    @bl5752 2 года назад

    Why did this take 20yrs? It's basically the same physics as an artillery shell.

  • @kngflxx
    @kngflxx 2 года назад +1

    untouched grass science

  • @wannabeeish
    @wannabeeish 2 года назад +2

    No one's gonna say anything about Timothy's last name

  • @mattgilbert7347
    @mattgilbert7347 Год назад

    Now do cricket ball deliveries - inswingers and outswingera

  • @rtpoe
    @rtpoe 2 года назад

    Are you going to eat those cookies?
    Um, now that you've tossed your cookies, maybe I'll pass..... (grin)

  • @TheAstronomyDude
    @TheAstronomyDude 2 года назад +2

    Until I see Tom Brady try to throw a football on the Moon, I'm not convinced.

  • @chb2005
    @chb2005 2 года назад

    Does the same thing happen with spheres? Like a basketball?

    • @ikepigott
      @ikepigott 2 года назад

      My hunch is “no,” for a couple of reasons. First, a sphere is symmetrical in every axis, so you really wouldn’t be able to track it in the same way. Just looking at it, you’d never know it was spinning.
      Since there is no irregularity to the shape of the sphere, there wouldn’t be a direction at which the incoming air pressure would align it. Any direction you spun it would be independent of the trajectory.

  • @bigsmoke1252
    @bigsmoke1252 2 года назад +1

    Honestly didn’t see as many comments on that dudes last name

  • @trcmf
    @trcmf 2 года назад

    Javelins do that as well

  • @TheTerranInformed
    @TheTerranInformed 2 года назад

    This video is interesting!
    (Though of course ideally the instances of the phrase “gravity pulling down” could be replaced with gravity pulling in! Towards the Earth’s center of mass!)
    (Though of course, then ideally one might say that gravity doesn’t precisely “Pull” because it is not necessarily a force, and could be better described as the bending of space-time, so maybe you could say that the bending of space time, due to earths mass, sets a given object on a course towards the center of the earth’s mass…)
    (though in my opinion, sometimes simplification can be useful, as long as it’s acknowledged as simplification)
    Overall, thought-provoking!
    At least to me!

  • @graemepennell
    @graemepennell 2 года назад +1

    So... Gyroscopic stability....

  • @xeroxkirrk
    @xeroxkirrk 2 года назад

    I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS THE OTHER DAY

  • @sidkhuntia
    @sidkhuntia 2 года назад

    A javelin also does the same but no one questioned it.

  • @reddcube
    @reddcube 2 года назад

    Now I'm wondering, What would a spinning top do in a vertical wind tunnel? What shape would let it stably spin? I'm guess a bullet shape

  • @Subzerowins
    @Subzerowins 2 года назад

    If you trow it right it will spin that spin will make it go straight

  • @damneh8688
    @damneh8688 2 года назад

    Nah this only raises a bigger question. How can a ball "want" to do something?

  • @Millipede666
    @Millipede666 2 года назад

    The ironic part about this is that the kids that paid attention in gym class but failed physics would know how to throw a football and not need to ever watch this video.

  • @wedot1
    @wedot1 2 года назад +2

    I think I disagree.... The top does not not align its rotational axis with the gravity vector. The top tries to maintain the the axis that it was spun around. If you spin it around a horizontal axis, it would try to maintain that axis. Think the classic bike tire in the classroom, or a gyroscope (several examples here). I would propose the solution would have to be in drag. (I know air flow direction is mentioned here). as the air flow vector changes, I would suspect that you get a moment on the ball that causes the rotation axis to rotate and "try to realign" with the air vector. (a game of cat and mouse if you will). Essentially this is a stable system (ball rotating on axis) with a constantly changing input (changing air flow).

    • @wedot1
      @wedot1 2 года назад +1

      @Pronto I appreciate your reply. I would argue that once the motion is developed (1-2 meters) that the air flow relative to the ball is constant. I know that sounds weird, but the air doesn't care if the ball is going away from ground or toward it.

  • @CalebSpronk
    @CalebSpronk 2 года назад +1

    Loving it 😊

  • @gustav_jamini
    @gustav_jamini 2 года назад

    is light a particle?

  • @Searchingtheworld7183
    @Searchingtheworld7183 Год назад

    This is very interesting subject for me.

  • @jakespearman9502
    @jakespearman9502 2 года назад

    do reverse swing in cricket pls

  • @kimmycassie
    @kimmycassie 2 года назад

    I don't get it. What's special with how the football is pointing? If you throw something, the front would face front while falling.