Newton's Laws Of Motion In Football: The Physics Of Football

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5 seconds is about all you get each play. 5 seconds could be the 5 seconds you need to win the game. Football is a fast pace hard-hitting sport. Football is a sport almost made for physicists (American Physical Society, 2010). You must apply every type of force, mass, and center of mass you have each time you play. May it be from the line of scrimmage, or from the man on man contact near the sideline. All three Newton’s law of motion plays a big role in American football. A big impact on football players is their center of mass. Your center of gravity is about between your chest and stomach. Coaches often tell their players to tackle a runner low. In this way, the runner's feet will be rotated in the air in the direction of the tackle (Craig …show more content…
It’s probably the most complicated to actually understand though. You must take in all the factors that go into throwing the football, like rotating your hips, the force you use to throw the ball, the wind, distance, and speed. When the football travels through the air, it always follows a curved, or parabolic, path because the force of gravity influences the movement of the ball in the vertical direction (Craig Freudenrich, How the Physics of Football Works, 2001). Once the ball is thrown it will rise until it reaches its peak and then as gravity pulls down on the ball it will begin to fall to the surface. This is the path of any object that is launched or thrown (football, arrow, ballistic missile) and is called projectile motion (Craig Freudenrich, How the Physics of Football Works, …show more content…
The running back, quarterback, and wide receiver are trained to be faster than their opponents. At the same time all defensive players are meant to take good angles, stronger, and faster than their opponent as well. A basic linebacker is taught to read the running back and go wherever he goes at an angle. As the runner gets closer the linebacker begins to lower center of mass and tackle the runner. To stop him -- change his momentum -- a tackler must apply an impulse in the opposite direction (Craig Freudenrich P. , 2001). In some cases the running back is very well trained and is a great athlete, and will break the tackle if he can transfer enough force into the defender. If the ball carrier has more momentum than the tackler, he will knock the tackler back with a momentum that is equal to the difference between the two players, and will likely break the tackle. After breaking the tackle, the ball carrier will accelerate (Craig Freudenrich P. , How the Physics of Football Works, 2001). Most cases the tackler is well trained and aims at the thighs. This is cause the runner uses his legs to accelerate and if the defensive player can stop his movement, he can drive him into the
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