The Physics Of The Sport Of Football - 1335 Words

Every year millions of spectators marvel over the physical beauty, that is the sport of football. While the game of football provides entertainment for millions of viewers each year, most people do not realize that the most basic principles of science enable the sport to function properly. Behind every play there is a scientific with an explanation as to why something is happening. It is the physics of football that make it such an enjoyable experience for spectators. The physicality behind one of America’s earliest pastimes can be explained by some of science’s earliest principles, Isaac Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. Newton was one of the most influential scientists of all time. His ideas became the basis for modern physics. Separately,†¦show more content†¦While one team is on offense, there is an opposite team that is trying to prevent them from positively gaining yards or even scoring. Often times the offensive team runs multiple plays and a tackle is made by the opposing defense. During a live play the defense will try to stop the opposing player with the ball, regardless of the position of the offensive player. â€Å"It is the duty of the offensive player to run as far and as fast as they possibly can in order to achieve success. Their natural resistance to the outside force stopping them is called inertia. Since the offensive ball carrier is in motion and doesn’t want to be stopped it will take an external force from the defensive player to try and stop them. The inertia of each individual player is proportional to their mass, meaning the player trying to be stopped will be harder to move off their path of movement (â€Å"Science of NFL Football: Newton s First Law of Motion,† n.d.)†. Just like the first law of inertia, Newton’s second law can also be easily applied to the game too. â€Å"The second law of motion states, â€Å"The acceleration produced by a particular force acting on a body is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body.† When a constant force acts on a massive body, it causes it to accelerate and to change its velocity, at a constant rate. In the simplest case, a force applied to an object at rest causes it to accelerate in the direction of the