Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Aerodynamics of the Long Bomb
I've been enjoying Smallville Season 11 so much, but I can't quite overlook this bit of physics fallacy in issue #44:
While Booster Gold is no doubt a superior athlete, he'd have a very had time throwing a basketball accurately 50 yards down field to an open receiver. It's not Booster's fault: you simply can't throw a "perfect spiral" with a round ball.
Instead of a round ball, American Football employs a prolate spheroid. In addition to the added benefit of the aerodynamic profile of the prolate spheroid, it is also easier to grip in one hand, thus allowing the passer to impart proper rotation to the football via the throwing motion. The rotation adds gyroscopic stability to the ball, resulting in faster, longer, and more accurate passes.
I know that you're just trying to be nice, Skeets, but so long as you look like a bloated cue ball, you'll not be participating in many successful Hail Marys.
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