Applying Newton's Laws to American Football

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Applying Newton's Laws to American Football

By: Kyle Wang

12/12/2018

Newton's law is applied everywhere. When your water bottle hits the ground, there is an equal and opposite reaction. However you can also find forces in the sport that everyone knows and loves. All three of Newton's laws of motion can be found in American football.

Newton's first law of motion is that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by unbalanced forces. Inversely, an object is not motion will not be moving unless acted on by unbalanced forces. This law is also known as the law of inertia. One example of this is when someone gets tackled. The player stays in motion until he gets tackled by a defensive player, in which case, he stops. If the player fumbles, the ball stays motionless in his hand until it gets stripped away from him in a certain direction. These are unbalanced forces acting on the ball, making the football move.

Newton's second law of motion is that the force of an object is equivalent to the mass multiplied by the acceleration. Knowing the Newton's second law is crucial for a quarterback, as they attempt to angle the ball perfectly, so that only their receiver can catch the ball. They can use the second law of motion to figure out how much force they must put in to get a ball in a certain place, if they know the mass and the acceleration of the football.

Newton's third law of motion is the action-reaction law. For every action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction. You can see this law in action when a player throws or kicks a ball. For example, when the kicker kicks the ball, the force that is applied to the ball, is applied right back to the kicker from the ball, even though it does not seem like it. When you throw the ball, your hand is pushing it in one direction, while the ball applies some force back.

As the rules of American football keep changes, the one thing that will never change are the physics behind the sport. Like I mentioned earlier, even in everyday life, the three laws of motion will always be applicable. The hard hits from defensive players is an example of law of inertia. The intense force from the players is most likely what causes injuries in this game of football. When the National Football League adds safety precautions, it will suppress the force from players, which can make the game safer for everyone.
Many different definitions of acceleration.


Picture
Action-Reaction Force when kicking a football.










Sources:
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/49ers-steam/science-behind-the-game/force-and-motion/a/football-physics

https://physics-in-football.weebly.com/forces.html


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