How Things Work

Basketball is an extremely famous sport that is played all over the world, and in light of march madness, I figured why not do a segment on shooting. As anyone who has played a pick up game with friends, taken a few shots with their family, or may even played a bit in highschool, college, and beyond, everyone knows your form matters. But today I want to discuss more than just the form but the mechanics and the science that lie underneath the process of shooting. https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/09/13/the-science-behind-shooting-a-basketball/ 

This week's episode is on the probability of a coin toss. This study was done by Harvard professor L. Mahadevan and physics graduate student Ee Hou Yong. Here is the link to the article and there is a diagram on the math and geometry of Bertrand's paradox. https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.1178 

When people think about throwing a football,  most just naturally throw the ball with as much force as they can muster expecting it to go far. Obviously the force that you throw the ball at does influence the distance it will travel; however, most who have thrown a football know the perfect spiral allows the football to almost fly through the air with ease. So, today I will describe the basic physics behind how one can be the perfect quarterback and throw that Hail Mary in a few short minutes. Source: Interesting Engineering, Trevor English, Feb. 29, 2020  https://interestingengineering.com/the-math-behind-throwing-the-perfect-football-spiral#:~:text=As%20the%20football%20spins%2C%20it,downward%20in%20a%20parabolic%20shape. 

Hello, my name is Kira Seggerty and I have decided to make a podcast on how things work out in the world using the basics of physics. Each week, if my schedule permits it, I’ll describe a different phenomenon and how it works. If I grow in a fan base, I would love it if you all email me or reach out with different concepts you wish me to research.