THE SCIENCE BEHIND SOCCER 

by

 Juan Carlos Gutierrez Ruiz 

and 

Francisco Daniel Ibarra Ramirez

Soccer one of the most physical sports there is. Soccer just like everything else in the world is involved in science. It is an intense game to watch and play. The game is played on a grass field about 115m long and 75m wide. Each team is allowed to have a maximum of 11 players on the field. The point of the game is to get a circular ball, which is approximately 27 inch in diameter, into a goal that is only ten feet wide and eight feet high.
Players can use any part of their body to score but they can't use their arms and hands. The game consists of fast pace movements and intense acrobatic exercise. The game sounds simple but there is actually a lot of physics behind soccer. Just kicking a ball

relates to the physics of motion, the physic of friction, and even aerodynamics. So by learning the physics behind soccer, any player can become a much better soccer player.

Newton's 1st law

The first law of motion is called the Law of Inertia. It states that “any object at rest, will tend to stay at rest, and any object in motion, will tend to stay in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force.” This unbalanced force could be: gravity, wind, or any moving object. In soccer however, this unbalance force is usually the soccer player’s foot. He or she will use muscle in the body to create a force to move the leg and kick the ball. Because the ball is at rest, it will continue to stay at rest. But once kicked, it will keep moving in a straight line without any intent of stopping. The reason the ball will stop is because of friction and Earth’s gravitational pull.

Newton's 2nd law

Newton’s second law states that “The change in velocity (acceleration) with which an object moves is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force applied to the object and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” This can be explained by the equation F=ma. The acceleration of the ball (a) is determined by the force applied (F) divided by the mass of the object that is being moved (m). This simply means that if the ball has a lot of mass, it will require more force to accelerate. If the ball has little mass, it will require little force. In soccer, it is important to know this law because if you want the ball to be moving fast, you must apply more force. If you want the ball to move just a little bit, then just apply less force.

Newton's 3rd law

Newton’s final law of motion states that “for every action, there is and equal and opposite reaction.” This literally means that if you kick the soccer ball, it will kick back at you just as hard. You usually don’t realize this because your leg doesn’t seem to move, but this is because your leg has more mass, meaning it has more inertia, which is the resistance to move.