Bernoulli's Effect On The Spin Of A Soccer Ball

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Have you ever wondered how trajectory and the pressure in the atmosphere effects the spin of a soccer ball? I don’t really play soccer that much but i’ve never understood why the ball curves in the air when you kick it. For my science project, I wanted to learn about the pressure in the atmosphere and how it affects a soccer ball in flight. I believe that understanding Bernoulli’s Principle may help to explain why trajectory affects the spin of a soccer ball. Daniel Bernoulli never imagined himself to come so far into life as he did with becoming a scientist. Bernoulli was born on February 8, 1700, in Groningen, Netherlands and died on March 17, 1782, in Basil, Switzerland (Daniel Bernoulli Biography). He was the son of Johann Bernoulli and Dorothea Faulkner. He had one older brother named Nicholas (II) Bernoulli. Daniel was born into a “family of leading mathematics” (Daniel Bernoulli Biography). Bernoulli was a doctor, mathematician, and a Swiss physician (Famous Scientists). 250 years ago, Daniel Bernoulli discovered that the kinetic theory molecules moved around and bumped into each other (Bernoulli’s Principle — History). Besides discovering mathematics and physics, Daniel also …show more content…

“As the ball moves through the air, the air parts around the ball. Behind the ball, the airstreams that separated come back together” (Bend It Like Magnus). To kick the soccer ball farther than normal, the ball needs to be pumped up harder than most other soccer balls (Live-strong). Magnus effect is the force exerted on a fast spinning cylinder or sphere moving through air or another fluid in a direction at an angle to the axis of spin (Magnus Effect/Physics). “The ball is like a rock in a fast flowing river — the water splits around the rock, then swirls to fill in behind the rock, causing turbulence” (Bend It Like Magnus). Turbulence is the motion of air, caused by changes in air current (Turbulence: Everything You Need To