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The Physics of Footballs and Snowballs. Could a Snowball Actually Deflect a Field Goal Attempt?
Sometimes physics problems just spontaneously appear in real life. In this case, it’s from the San Francisco vs. Bills football in Buffalo, NY. In case you aren’t aware, Buffalo can get A BUNCH of snow — and that’s exactly what happened this weekend.
So, what happens when the 49ners attempt a field goal? Well, it turns out one fan attempted to knock the ball off it’s trajectory with a snowball. Check it out.
The physics question is right there — what would happen if the snow ball hit the ball? Oh, game on (physics game). Let’s find out.
The Physics of Collisions
How do you figure out what happens when one object runs into another one? In terms of physics, it’s useful to consider momentum and the momentum principle. We define momentum (p) as the product of an object’s mass (m) and its vector velocity (v).
There’s probably a reason we use “p” for momentum, but honestly — I have no idea why. But it turns out…
