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The Mystery and Physics of the Spiral Football Pass

Season 50

The way the spiral football pass travels through the air baffled physicists for years.

Why does the nose of the football go from pointing upward to rotating downward when most things stay the same orientation when they move through the air? (Think of frisbees, bean bags, even paper airplanes.) The reason is something called "conservation of angular momentum." Discover the physics that explains how a perfect football pass moves through the air.

AIR DATE 2/13/23

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