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

Description of events-

1. The ball will gain the speed when player kicks it but if ball bounces it's speed will decrease because we cannot have a perfect elastic collision there because on collision some of the energy will be lost as in the form of heat. And bouncing in a puddle there would be hard surface to reflect momentum so ball will lose momentum and cannot gain speed even with what it came.

2. As above mentioned no perfect elastic collision. If there would be perfect elastic collision ball will return with the same velocity as the player will give to it. The increase in the velocity is not possible when colliding with something like crossbar.

3. Here only one thing , that is 'Physics is Everything' . In the game we have lot of physics like collisions, energy conservation, momentum conservation.

4. In case of rainy day there would be less friction that will make payers to slip. But friction that will be generated by boots will depend upon the material of shoe and it's nail length not on the gravitational force. When player will slip the gravitational attraction will make the player to fall.

5. The time of kick energy from the muscle of the player is being transferred to the ball as well as momentum transfer. And we can assume the collision the perfect elastic that kinetic energy remains conserved.

On a rainy day , the difficulties goalkeeper will face are, first less friction on the ground that will change the all calculation of running and jumping, second on water in the ground the speed of ball will not decrease at that amount as it decreases on a non rainy day, so it would be tough for goalkeeper to estimate the speed of ball. While there can be a case when there would be some large water on the ground, on the bouncing with the ground the ball will lose the much energy like ball is stopped by the water , hence tough to estimate where ball is coming.