Question

Looking at a football match, which of the following describes an event CONSISTENT with the study of Classical Mechanics?

a) The ball gains speed by bouncing into a puddle after a player kicks.

(b) A ball leaves the player's foot without rotation and, after colliding with the crossbar, returns to the player's feet faster than at the start of the kick.

c) In a soccer game, there is no mechanical phenomenon related to the study of physics.

d) The fact that the boot is of large or small nails, of metal or plastic, making the player slip more or less on rainy days, concerns the study of universal gravitation.

e) The encounter between a player's boot and the ball at the time of the kick is an example of a partially elastic shock in which there is a transfer of energy and momentum. ”

Analyzing the alternatives of the above question, we can observe in item “a” a phrase widely used by narrators and sports commentators in their radio and TV broadcasts. This phrase contains one of the many conceptual distortions in physics presented in sports broadcasts. Research and present in the COLLABORATIVE CHALLENGE other phrases that exemplify the extremely distorted view of physics.

How could we justify the goalkeeper's difficulty catching a kick in a rainy soccer match? Review the examples presented by your colleagues and indicate the misconceptions in the sentences. What do you think is the convincing power that a statement of this size can inadvertently wield in the minds of sports aficionados?

Answer 1