How to Bend It Like Beckham: Physics Students Calculate Perfect Soccer Ball Kicking Formula - Polidicks

[quote] Now that David Beckham won't be appearing at the London 2012 Olympics, other members of Team GB wanting to brush up on their free-kicks can rest easy. University of Leicester physics students have published a paper which sets out the optimum way of kicking a football (soccer ball) in order to make it bend into the goal. The ex-England captain's curling free-kicks became legendary, and even inspired the title of the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham. Now, four master's students at the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy believe they have discovered a formula to explain how the football curves when a player puts spin on it. Jasmine Sandhu, Amy Edgington, Matthew Grant and Naomi Rowe-Gurney found a relationship between the amount a football bends in the air, the speed it is travelling 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 it was originally kicked.The group found that the distance a ball bends (D) as a result of this force is related to the ball's radius (R), the density of air (ρ), the ball's angular velocity (ω), it's velocity through the air (v), it's mass (m) and the distance travelled by the ball in the direction it was kicked (x). For instance, if a player standing 15 metres away from the byline kicked an average football so that it was travelling 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 result, the player would probably need to bring a tape measure -- as well as a measure of their own abilities -- if they wanted to put the theory into practice during a game!Jasmine Sandhu, 22, who studies Physics with Space Science and Technology, said: "Whilst researching new ideas for a paper I read about how physics influences various aspects of football, from the clothing they wear to the effects of playing at high altitude. "The article discussed how a new design of ball, used in the 2010 World Cup, has three dimensional moulding of the panels in order to produce a more rounded ball, thus affecting the spin that can be imparted. "This prompted us to examine how footballers use spin on the ball, and the factors which influence how much the path of the ball would bend."These findings made me more aware of how I can use spin to bend the ball in a game of football. In addition, this research is also relevant to other sports, such as tennis, which shows that physics definitely gives you the edge! "The paper was published in this year's University of Leicester[I]Journal of Special Physics Topics[/I], which features original short papers written by students in the final year of their four-year Master of Physics degree. ----------------------- Source:[URL="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629120328.htm"] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629120328.htm[/URL] [/quote] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/s1Qb0.png[/IMG] (D) = distance a ball bends as a result of this force (R) = Radius of the ball (ρ) = Air density (ω) = Angular velocity of the ball (v) = Velocity through the air, (m) = Mass of the ball (X) = Distance travelled by the ball in the direction it was kicked.

Now I can be accepted in school!

Wait, I understand this.

That formula was surprisingly simple.

Got to love classical mechanics <3

'Bend it like Beckham' I hate that saying, why can't it be forgotten.

It's obviously a simplified solution to real life and as such will only give a somewhat accurate representation, but sure it's pretty cool.

[url=https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/458/256]Original paper[/url] This is really weird. The paper is a mere two pages long, and they used wired.com and wikipedia in their sources. For contrast, one of my formal reports I had to do in my first year of physics was eight pages long, and I had to do five of them. I know it's not supposed to be a proper piece of research (article says it's something done in a 4th year MSci course) but even then I don't get it. The "special journal" is full of very short papers like this. Could someone kindly explain this? Do they have to crank out a shit tonne of them every month or something? How did this get featured on sciencedaily? Did anyone even bother verifying if the formula works in real life? Am I just being thick? help [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] they didn't even put a title on their one graph

[QUOTE=Liem;36554810]Wait, I understand this.[/QUOTE] Are you Asian and Nerdy? Both are prerequisites. :v:

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36555505]Are you Asian and Nerdy? Both are prerequisites. :v:[/QUOTE] neither are prerequisites

[QUOTE=Vodkavia;36555585]This is pre-algebra level stuff.[/QUOTE] >Algebra is present in the equation. The only number in the equation is Pi.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;36555847]>Algebra is present in the equation. The only number in the equation is Pi.[/QUOTE] afaik pre-algebra is some american class that actually includes algebra, just not very complex algebra someone please correct me if I'm wrong

[QUOTE=Turnips5;36555183][url=https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/458/256]Original paper[/url] This is really weird. The paper is a mere two pages long, and they used wired.com and wikipedia in their sources. For contrast, one of my formal reports I had to do in my first year of physics was eight pages long, and I had to do five of them. I know it's not supposed to be a proper piece of research (article says it's something done in a 4th year MSci course) but even then I don't get it. The "special journal" is full of very short papers like this. Could someone kindly explain this? Do they have to crank out a shit tonne of them every month or something? How did this get featured on sciencedaily? Did anyone even bother verifying if the formula works in real life? Am I just being thick? help [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] they didn't even put a title on their one graph[/QUOTE] maybe things are different in the world of math but how on earth did a paper with a wikipedia citation get in a journal

It's simple simply because it is the combination of a formula to calculate the density of the sphere that is the ball, combined with angular velocity and linear velocity. I doubt it's even taking gravity into account.

[quote]"The paper was published in this year's University of Leicester Journal of Special Physics Topics, which features original short papers written by students in the final year of their four-year Master of Physics degree[I].[/I][/quote] Oh god. [QUOTE=Big Bang;36557934]I doubt it's even taking gravity into account.[/QUOTE] As stupid and as not newsworthy as this shit is, it does take acceleration due to gravity into account, namely through x, distance traveled (and also, fluid density). Though I'm not sure how legit this would be anyway, because there's two different angles that you can kick the ball to get the same distance, but they have different travel times, which I thought would end up with different amounts of curvature. [QUOTE=Turnips5;36555183]they didn't even put a title on their one graph[/QUOTE] It seriously looks like it was made to teach high school students the basic format of a paper.

[QUOTE=Lazor;36557742]maybe things are different in the world of math but how on earth did a paper with a wikipedia citation get in a journal[/QUOTE] all the papers in the [I]Journal of Special Physics Topics[/I] seem to be much like this one I have a buddy at Leicester doing physics actually, I might ask him what the deal is [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=ThisIsTheOne;36558376]It seriously looks like it was made to teach high school students the basic format of a paper.[/QUOTE] yeah and it's allegedly done by 4th year MSci students, what gives [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] [url]http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/physics/physics-special-topics/about-the-journal[/url] [quote] The Journal of Physics Special Topics forms a 10-credit module in the final year of the four-year MPhys degree. The module provides scope for creativity, for group work in a realistic context, and for the opportunity to revise some basic physics. It also gives the students an important insight into the formal process of submission, peer review and publishing. Split into small research groups, the students are asked to come up with ideas for short papers of no more than two pages, properly presented with formulae, diagrams, references etc. The groups referee each other’s work and sift out any ‘low quality’ papers containing mistakes or invalid conclusions in a process overseen by a student editorial board. The end result is the annual edition of the Journal of Physics Special Topics. The module can be a lot of fun, and - especially for those interested in a career in research - the introduction to the world of scientific publishing and peer review is absolutely invaluable. Dr. Mervyn Roy, course leader[/quote] [I]what the fuck is this[/I] jesus christ I'm glad I didn't apply to Leicester

[QUOTE=Turnips5;36558510][I]what the fuck is this[/I] jesus christ I'm glad I didn't apply to Leicester[/QUOTE] Fuck that is really bad for the 4th year of a physics degree. Out of the two textbooks they referenced, one is a first year physics textbook that's also designed for engineers...

[QUOTE=ThisIsTheOne;36558620]Fuck that is really bad for the 4th year of a physics degree. Out of the two textbooks they referenced, one is a first year physics textbook that's also designed for engineers...[/QUOTE] I mean, I can [I]almost[/I] see this as part of a first year module, and the idea is vaguely entertaining, but all it seems to be is (badly) dressed up back-of-the-envelope calculations. I have no clue why sciencedaily.com decided to report on this, but I'll be more wary of their articles in the future.

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36555505]Are you Asian and Nerdy? Both are prerequisites. :v:[/QUOTE] I'm Canadian and Not really a Nerd Just good in Math and Science

wait hold on this is an actual paper?