

The Magnus Effect and the World Cup Match Ball - adamcarson
http://www.comsol.com/blogs/magnus-effect-world-cup-match-ball/

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ScottBurson
I'd wager that no sport makes more use of the Magnus effect than table tennis.
The ball is extremely light, and top players routinely spin it at 6000 to as
much as 9000 rpm. And not just on occasional shots, either -- almost every
ball is spinning heavily in some direction. I'd have to check to be sure, but
I think the Magnus acceleration can be greater than that due to gravity. It
certainly can be of the same order.

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Al__Dante
It can definitely be greater, because a table tennis ball with backspin
follows an upward trajectory.

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dmourati
For details on how Roberto Carlos sets up a free kick, watch this video:
[http://www.uefa.com/trainingground/skills/video/videoid=7611...](http://www.uefa.com/trainingground/skills/video/videoid=761187.html)

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aagha
Thanks so much for posting that link. Carlos is so Zen when it comes to
soccer: "The ball is for playing".

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nhebb
Related: Sixty Symbols did a video about the Jabulani football used in 2010:

[http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/football.htm](http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/football.htm)

Sixty Symbols (from the University of Nottingham) does a nice job making
videos about physics that are approachable for non-physicists.

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irremediable
Lovely stuff. Back in my undergrad degree, the professor who taught basic
fluid mechanics loved to use the Magnus effect as an example. I think his
explanation would have been much improved by some FEA like we see here.

COMSOL's a cool package, incidentally. It makes FEA much easier for people who
don't have much experience of it, but do know a fair bit about the physical
phenomena they're trying to model. I had a few gripes with the system back
when I used it for modelling thermal degradation in motors, but overall it was
very impressive.

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tegeek
In cricket, the Magnus Effect produce "reverse swing".

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No2Nz4R4HUs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No2Nz4R4HUs)

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abfan1127
why don't they mention golf balls? Golf balls used to be smooth, but caddies
found that used dented balls flew straighter and golfers had more control.

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Gmo
Mostly because this article is made because of the football/soccer world cup
which is currently taking place in Brazil, and they don't mention any other
sports ?

