#magnuseffect — Public Fediverse posts

Yesterday I was playing catch with my 8 y/o son, and I noticed the (Nerf American) football was curving to my right when I was about to catch it. He was throwing high arcing throws with a spiral. Normally when you throw a spiral the tip of the ball stays pointed in the direction the ball is traveling. But this time, at the peak of the throw the ball continued to spin with the tip pointed up. So as the ball came down towards me it aligned almost perpendicular to its motion. As I tried to catch it, it curved to my right at the last second.

I am pretty sure it was the Magnus effect. Once I realized, it was easier to catch the ball because I was ready for the break at the end.

I think the fact that it was a Nerf ball helped it to curve more. It is light, soft foam and has textured ridges that probably catches the air as it spins.

I drew a sketch of a normal throw and the high racing throw that I am describing here.

#americanFootball
#magnusEffect

1/2

Yesterday I was playing catch with my 8 y/o son, and I noticed the (Nerf American) football was curving to my right when I was about to catch it. He was throwing high arcing throws with a spiral. Normally when you throw a spiral the tip of the ball stays pointed in the direction the ball is traveling. But this time, at the peak of the throw the ball continued to spin with the tip pointed up. So as the ball came down towards me it aligned almost perpendicular to its motion. As I tried to catch it, it curved to my right at the last second.

I am pretty sure it was the Magnus effect. Once I realized, it was easier to catch the ball because I was ready for the break at the end.

I think the fact that it was a Nerf ball helped it to curve more. It is light, soft foam and has textured ridges that probably catches the air as it spins.

I drew a sketch of a normal throw and the high racing throw that I am describing here.

#americanFootball
#magnusEffect

1/2

Yesterday I was playing catch with my 8 y/o son, and I noticed the (Nerf American) football was curving to my right when I was about to catch it. He was throwing high arcing throws with a spiral. Normally when you throw a spiral the tip of the ball stays pointed in the direction the ball is traveling. But this time, at the peak of the throw the ball continued to spin with the tip pointed up. So as the ball came down towards me it aligned almost perpendicular to its motion. As I tried to catch it, it curved to my right at the last second.

I am pretty sure it was the Magnus effect. Once I realized, it was easier to catch the ball because I was ready for the break at the end.

I think the fact that it was a Nerf ball helped it to curve more. It is light, soft foam and has textured ridges that probably catches the air as it spins.

I drew a sketch of a normal throw and the high racing throw that I am describing here.

#americanFootball
#magnusEffect

1/2

Yesterday I was playing catch with my 8 y/o son, and I noticed the (Nerf American) football was curving to my right when I was about to catch it. He was throwing high arcing throws with a spiral. Normally when you throw a spiral the tip of the ball stays pointed in the direction the ball is traveling. But this time, at the peak of the throw the ball continued to spin with the tip pointed up. So as the ball came down towards me it aligned almost perpendicular to its motion. As I tried to catch it, it curved to my right at the last second.

I am pretty sure it was the Magnus effect. Once I realized, it was easier to catch the ball because I was ready for the break at the end.

I think the fact that it was a Nerf ball helped it to curve more. It is light, soft foam and has textured ridges that probably catches the air as it spins.

I drew a sketch of a normal throw and the high racing throw that I am describing here.

#americanFootball
#magnusEffect

1/2

Yesterday I was playing catch with my 8 y/o son, and I noticed the (Nerf American) football was curving to my right when I was about to catch it. He was throwing high arcing throws with a spiral. Normally when you throw a spiral the tip of the ball stays pointed in the direction the ball is traveling. But this time, at the peak of the throw the ball continued to spin with the tip pointed up. So as the ball came down towards me it aligned almost perpendicular to its motion. As I tried to catch it, it curved to my right at the last second.

I am pretty sure it was the Magnus effect. Once I realized, it was easier to catch the ball because I was ready for the break at the end.

I think the fact that it was a Nerf ball helped it to curve more. It is light, soft foam and has textured ridges that probably catches the air as it spins.

I drew a sketch of a normal throw and the high racing throw that I am describing here.

#americanFootball
#magnusEffect

1/2

Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible https://hackaday.com/2025/11/30/magnus-effect-drone-flies-looks-impossible/ #proofofconcept #Magnuseffect #dronehacks #fixed-wing #flight #drone #rotor

Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible https://hackaday.com/2025/11/30/magnus-effect-drone-flies-looks-impossible/ #proofofconcept #Magnuseffect #dronehacks #fixed-wing #flight #drone #rotor

Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible https://hackaday.com/2025/11/30/magnus-effect-drone-flies-looks-impossible/ #proofofconcept #Magnuseffect #dronehacks #fixed-wing #flight #drone #rotor

Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible https://hackaday.com/2025/11/30/magnus-effect-drone-flies-looks-impossible/ #proofofconcept #Magnuseffect #dronehacks #fixed-wing #flight #drone #rotor

Flettner Rotors Spin Anew

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. (The difference is that the rotor uses the Magnus effect.)

The market crash that kicked off the Great Depression spelled an end to the rotorship, but the idea is getting revived as industries search for greener forms of ship propulsion. Although the Flettner rotor still uses fuel (to spin the rotor), it can complete a voyage on only a small fraction of the fuel needed for conventional propulsion. (Image credit: Getty Images; via PopSci)

#aerodynamics #Flettner #fluidDynamics #liftGeneration #magnusEffect #physics #propulsion #sailing #science

Flettner Rotors Spin Anew

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. (The difference is that the rotor uses the Magnus effect.)

The market crash that kicked off the Great Depression spelled an end to the rotorship, but the idea is getting revived as industries search for greener forms of ship propulsion. Although the Flettner rotor still uses fuel (to spin the rotor), it can complete a voyage on only a small fraction of the fuel needed for conventional propulsion. (Image credit: Getty Images; via PopSci)

#aerodynamics #Flettner #fluidDynamics #liftGeneration #magnusEffect #physics #propulsion #sailing #science

Flettner Rotors Spin Anew

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. (The difference is that the rotor uses the Magnus effect.)

The market crash that kicked off the Great Depression spelled an end to the rotorship, but the idea is getting revived as industries search for greener forms of ship propulsion. Although the Flettner rotor still uses fuel (to spin the rotor), it can complete a voyage on only a small fraction of the fuel needed for conventional propulsion. (Image credit: Getty Images; via PopSci)

#aerodynamics #Flettner #fluidDynamics #liftGeneration #magnusEffect #physics #propulsion #sailing #science

Flettner Rotors Spin Anew

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. (The difference is that the rotor uses the Magnus effect.)

The market crash that kicked off the Great Depression spelled an end to the rotorship, but the idea is getting revived as industries search for greener forms of ship propulsion. Although the Flettner rotor still uses fuel (to spin the rotor), it can complete a voyage on only a small fraction of the fuel needed for conventional propulsion. (Image credit: Getty Images; via PopSci)

#aerodynamics #Flettner #fluidDynamics #liftGeneration #magnusEffect #physics #propulsion #sailing #science

Flettner Rotors Spin Anew

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. (The difference is that the rotor uses the Magnus effect.)

The market crash that kicked off the Great Depression spelled an end to the rotorship, but the idea is getting revived as industries search for greener forms of ship propulsion. Although the Flettner rotor still uses fuel (to spin the rotor), it can complete a voyage on only a small fraction of the fuel needed for conventional propulsion. (Image credit: Getty Images; via PopSci)

#aerodynamics #Flettner #fluidDynamics #liftGeneration #magnusEffect #physics #propulsion #sailing #science

Why cricket’s latest bowling technique is so effective against batters - Enlarge / Some cricket bowlers favor keeping the arm horizontal during ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2042516 #fluiddynamics #sportsscience #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #cricketgame #science #physics

Why cricket’s latest bowling technique is so effective against batters - Enlarge / Some cricket bowlers favor keeping the arm horizontal during ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2042516 #fluiddynamics #sportsscience #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #cricketgame #science #physics

Why cricket’s latest bowling technique is so effective against batters - Enlarge / Some cricket bowlers favor keeping the arm horizontal during ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2042516 #fluiddynamics #sportsscience #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #cricketgame #science #physics

Why cricket’s latest bowling technique is so effective against batters - Enlarge / Some cricket bowlers favor keeping the arm horizontal during ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2042516 #fluiddynamics #sportsscience #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #cricketgame #science #physics

Why cricket’s latest bowling technique is so effective against batters - Enlarge / Some cricket bowlers favor keeping the arm horizontal during ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2042516 #fluiddynamics #sportsscience #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #cricketgame #science #physics

Like many sports that feature balls, spin plays a big role in tennis. By imparting a topspin or backspin to a tennis ball, players can alter the ball’s trajectory after a bounce and, using the Magnus effect to alter lift around the ball, change how it travels through the air. For example, a ball hit with backspin can dive just after the net, forcing an opponent to scramble after it. How much spin a player can impart depends on the speed of the racket’s head. Competitive rackets are carefully engineered — in terms of weight, string tension, and frame stiffness — to translate the kinetic energy of a player’s swing into the ball. But aerodynamics also play a role: new rackets designed to minimize drag hit the market 15-20 years ago, promising drag reductions up to 24% compared to previous rackets. That gives a player more swing speed and higher spins at a lower energy cost. (Image credit: C. Costello)

Related topics: The Magnus effect in table tennis and in golf; the reverse Magnus effect

Check out more of our ongoing and past Olympic coverage here.

https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2024/08/paris-2024-tennis-racket-physics/

#dragReduction #fluidDynamics #magnusEffect #olympics #Paris2024 #physics #science #sports #tennis

Like many sports that feature balls, spin plays a big role in tennis. By imparting a topspin or backspin to a tennis ball, players can alter the ball’s trajectory after a bounce and, using the Magnus effect to alter lift around the ball, change how it travels through the air. For example, a ball hit with backspin can dive just after the net, forcing an opponent to scramble after it. How much spin a player can impart depends on the speed of the racket’s head. Competitive rackets are carefully engineered — in terms of weight, string tension, and frame stiffness — to translate the kinetic energy of a player’s swing into the ball. But aerodynamics also play a role: new rackets designed to minimize drag hit the market 15-20 years ago, promising drag reductions up to 24% compared to previous rackets. That gives a player more swing speed and higher spins at a lower energy cost. (Image credit: C. Costello)

Related topics: The Magnus effect in table tennis and in golf; the reverse Magnus effect

Check out more of our ongoing and past Olympic coverage here.

https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2024/08/paris-2024-tennis-racket-physics/

#dragReduction #fluidDynamics #magnusEffect #olympics #Paris2024 #physics #science #sports #tennis

Spin, or the lack thereof, plays a major role in many sports — including tennis, golf, football, baseball, volleyball, and table tennis — because it affects whether flow stays attached around a ball, as well as how much lift or side force a ball gets. A ball’s spin doesn’t stay constant, however. During flight, a ball’s spin decays at a rate proportional to its initial spin and velocity. Researchers have found that a ball’s moment of inertia, flow regime, and surface roughness all affect that decay, but which factor is the most significant varies by ball and by sport.

Whether a ball bounces while spinning also matters. For compliant balls on a non-compliant surface — think tennis balls on a court — a bounce can actually change how much a ball spins. During impact, a tennis ball can: slide, decreasing its tangential velocity while increasing its topspin; roll, where the ball’s tangential velocity matches the tangential velocity of the surface; or over-spin, where the ball spins faster than it rolls. For a given impact angle and velocity, researchers found that stiffer and/or lighter balls were more likely to over-spin. Within tennis’s allowable range of ball stiffness and mass, manufacturers could create tennis balls that over-spin far more than conventional ones, creating another opportunity for deceptive tactics in the sport. (Image credit: J. Calabrese; research credit: T. Allen et al.)

Related topics: How flow separates from a surface, and why turbulence is sometimes preferable

Find all of our Olympics coverage — past and ongoing — here and every sports post here.

https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2024/07/paris-2024-bouncing-and-spinning/

#aerodynamics #fluidDynamics #magnusEffect #olympics #Paris2024 #physics #rotation #science #tennis

Spin, or the lack thereof, plays a major role in many sports — including tennis, golf, football, baseball, volleyball, and table tennis — because it affects whether flow stays attached around a ball, as well as how much lift or side force a ball gets. A ball’s spin doesn’t stay constant, however. During flight, a ball’s spin decays at a rate proportional to its initial spin and velocity. Researchers have found that a ball’s moment of inertia, flow regime, and surface roughness all affect that decay, but which factor is the most significant varies by ball and by sport.

Whether a ball bounces while spinning also matters. For compliant balls on a non-compliant surface — think tennis balls on a court — a bounce can actually change how much a ball spins. During impact, a tennis ball can: slide, decreasing its tangential velocity while increasing its topspin; roll, where the ball’s tangential velocity matches the tangential velocity of the surface; or over-spin, where the ball spins faster than it rolls. For a given impact angle and velocity, researchers found that stiffer and/or lighter balls were more likely to over-spin. Within tennis’s allowable range of ball stiffness and mass, manufacturers could create tennis balls that over-spin far more than conventional ones, creating another opportunity for deceptive tactics in the sport. (Image credit: J. Calabrese; research credit: T. Allen et al.)

Related topics: How flow separates from a surface, and why turbulence is sometimes preferable

Find all of our Olympics coverage — past and ongoing — here and every sports post here.

https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2024/07/paris-2024-bouncing-and-spinning/

#aerodynamics #fluidDynamics #magnusEffect #olympics #Paris2024 #physics #rotation #science #tennis

In 1852, Gustav Magnus analyzed the Magnus effect, the swerve of a spinning ball in flight. #Poetry #History #Science #Aerodynamics #MagnusEffect (https://sharpgiving.com/thebookofscience/items/p1672.html)

Magnus Effect Propels This Flettner Rotor Boat - The Magnus effect is a interesting and useful phenomena. [James Whomsley] from [Pr... - https://hackaday.com/2021/11/27/magnus-effect-propels-this-flettner-rotor-boat/ #flettnerrotor #magnuseffect #mischacks #magnus

Magnus-Effect RC Aircraft Is A Lot Harder Than It Looks - Conventional airfoil wings have come out on top for getting flying machines airborne over... - https://hackaday.com/2021/08/05/magnus-effect-rc-aircraft-is-a-lot-harder-than-it-looks/ #aerodynamics #magnuseffect #rcairplane #mischacks #news

What the physics of skipping stones can tell us about aircraft water landings - Enlarge / Experiments by Chinese physicists have shed further light on the intric... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1758208 #spacecraftwaterlandings #fluiddynamics #magnuseffect #gyroeffect #science #physics

Typhoon-Tough Turbines Withstand Wild Winds - It’s really beginning to feel as though the problem of climate change is a huge boulder rolling down... - https://hackaday.com/2020/10/07/typhoon-tough-turbines-withstand-wild-winds/ #verticalaxiswindturbine #magnuseffect #engineering #originalart #greenhacks #windpower #featured #turbine #typhoon