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Prof. David Toback Department of Physics and Astronomy

Fun things to watch for during a Football game… Physics in Motion. Prof. David Toback Department of Physics and Astronomy. Watching a Football Game When you understand the science you can understand what makes a team successful.

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Prof. David Toback Department of Physics and Astronomy

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  1. Fun things to watch for during a Football game… Physics in Motion Prof. David Toback Department of Physics and Astronomy David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  2. Watching a Football GameWhen you understand the science you can understand what makes a team successful I’ll show a couple of slides and video with some fun things to look for when you are watching your next game David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  3. Overview • Offense: Trying to score a touchdown • Defense: Trying to prevent a touchdown • Punting: Kicking the ball to the other team because it’s their turn Start with some of the principles, say a few words and then watch some examples David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  4. The Physics • Football, like most sports, is a game of speed and power, only more extreme • The quarterback can throw a ball over 70 yards (~70 meters) • The people protecting the quarterback are enormous, ~300 lbs (~150 kg) • The people trying to catch the ball are incredibly fast, some have run track in the Olympics! • Punters can kick a ball high in the air over 50 yards (~50 meters) David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  5. Why is this important? • One of the things that makes football players special is the balance between their speed and their size • This is especially important on offence and defense • Physics Equation: • Energy = ½ MV2 where M is the Mass of the player (how much he weighs, how big he is) and V is his speed (how fast or how quick he is) David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  6. So what? • If you are trying to run with the ball, then the bigger you are the more energy you have to not get tackled (you can break out of their arms!) • However: • Most really heavy people can’t run very fast • Most people who can run really fast aren’t very heavy • What makes these men special is that they are they are big AND fast David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  7. Offense • Offense: A running back’s effectiveness is dependent on his energy, which is a combination of both his mass and his speed (mostly his speed). For this reason he sometimes will start far back behind the line of scrimmage so he can get some real speed (some real energy). This allows him to bounce off tackles and make big gains. • Video clip 1: Running back in the backfield, gets lots of speed, breaks a few tackles, and runs for a big gain David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  8. Defense • Defense: A defense's effectiveness is dependent on the same thing. Again, a combination of mass and speed. Having big guys who can run fast is the ultimate advantage • Video clip 2: The defense is trying to get to the quarterback. By mistake one of them is allowed to run really fast so he can get to the quarterback • Video clip 3Video clip 4: "The Hit" which is the ultimate combination of size and speed David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  9. Punting A punter kicks the football to a person downfield. While the ball is in the area his team runs down the field to try and tackle the guy who just caught the ball David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  10. Perfect Balance! • Kick #3: • Good enough: Goes pretty far! • Good enough: Spends a good amount of time in the air so the people trying to tackle have enough time to get there! • Kick #2: • Good: Spends a long time in the air so the person trying to catch it has to wait. This gives the people who want to tackle him LOTS of time to get there! • Bad: Doesn’t go very far! • Kick #1: • Good: Goes really far! • Bad: Doesn’t spend a long time in the air! Person catching it will have lots of time to start running before the people trying to tackle him get there. He can build up speed! Makes him harder to catch and tackle David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

  11. Next time you’re at a Football game, watch the power and speed • Enjoy your Aggies! David Toback Professor of Physics and Astronomy

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