DailyDirt: Having A Ball

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Maybe you've been following a sport called football (not soccer!) recently. You wouldn't be alone. The World Cup has an audience size of nearly a billion people, roughly nine times the audience that watches the Super Bowl (or the whatever-you're-allowed-to-call-it "big game"). But for those of you not really interested in watching these soccer football matches, here are some links on the technology behind various game balls.

• Soccer ball designs have changed quite a bit since the 1920s. The Telstar Durlast ball from the 1970 World Cup is the buckyball shape that was designed to be more visible on black & white TVs. The newest ball designs have far fewer panels and seams, and they need to be tested to make sure the aerodynamics aren't too different from previous balls. [url]
• The first basketball was actually a soccer ball. Before the 1940s, the technology to make an inflatable ball without laces didn't exist, so it wasn't until after basketballs could be molded for a smooth surface (without laces), that dribbling became a major part of the sport. [url]
• A completely smooth golf ball would travel only about half as far as golf ball with dimples. The dimples create a turbulent boundary layer of air around the ball, and the effect can produce additional lift, depending on how the ball is hit. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: aerodynamics, basketball, design, football, golf, soccer, sports, super bowl, world cup