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Does the air pressure in a soccer ball affect the distance the ball goes after a kick?
Optional Information: Subject: ScienceAlready Tried: Internet
Welcome!
Yes, the air pressure in the ball does impact how far it will go. Here's the main reason why:
When a ball is underinflated, as it gets impacted by the foot during the kick, some of the energy will go into bending the skin of the ball, and the rest will go into making the ball itself move. When the ball has more air, the skin cannot bend, so all of the energy goes into moving the ball.
This is the exact same reason that an underinflated ball does not bounce as high when you drop it on the ground.
References, and interesting reading material: http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/bouncing_balls.html, http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae469.cfm
Let me know if you have any questions. If not, thanks for pressing "Accept".
-Scott
Experience: MIT Graduate (Math, Programming, Science, and Music)
Reply to Scott's Post: The first link in your response referenced a bouncing ball. I need reference to a kicked ball. I already found several referenced to bouncing balls. The second link in your response referened the temperature of a ball and air pressure. Not what I was looking for. I specifically need to find reference to a kicked ball, the air pressure inside the ball and how this effects the distance it travels.
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