Football Science Experiments for Super Bowl 52

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

Footballs take crazy bounces, partly due to the occasional transformation of rotational (spinning) energy to linear kinetic (forward motion) energy when  a football hits the ground. We used an experiment created by Kelly O’Shea to replicate this cool phenomenon! Try it to see for yourself how the second or third bounce can be higher than the first one! No wonder it’s so hard to catch a football!

For more Super Bowl physics fun, make paper footballs and have your own match during the big game. Here’s my ScholasticParents.com article on how to make them, how to play and the physics behind the fun! To see paper footballs in action and learn why players stay close to the ground when they tackle, check out this Super Bowl Science segment (above) I did this week on our Twin Cities CBS station.

And if you’re a Vikings fan like me…

Leave a comment