A football’s dimensions, pressure and texture affect its aerodynamics, i.e. the forces exerted by the air on the ball as it flies.
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Articles on Aerodynamics
Displaying 1 - 20 of 23 articles
Adidas releases a new ball for every World Cup. At the highest level of play, a ball that behaves in unexpected ways can throw players off. A sports physicist explains the science of this year’s ball.
Ski jumpers do everything they can to counteract the effects of gravity and fly as far as they can down hills.
It may look like athletes in bobsled, luge and skeleton simply grab a sled and hang on until the bottom, but high-speed physics and tiny motions mean the difference between gold and a crash.
Starship’s groundbreaking design will help it land safely on Mars one day.
F50 catamarans used in the “Formula One"of sailing can travel at up to 50 knots.
British cyclist Neil Campbell has set a new men’s speed record for slipstreaming behind a car. But his speed of 280km an hour, while breathtaking, has not taken human cycling performance to the limit.
A pilot and researcher knows that airplanes are full of sensors – and finds a way onboard computers can use the data to detect equipment failure and tell pilots what’s a real emergency and what’s not.
Most long distance road cycling events are won or lost in the final sprint of any race stage. Here’s one tip that could give you an extra 5kph advantage.
The science behind the suits that gave Britain’s medal-winning athletes a crucial speed boost.
Major airports around the world will see more frequent flight restrictions in the coming decades because of increasingly common hot temperatures.
The science behind a successful set piece.
Physics says Game of Thrones dragons can fly. Whoever said maths was useless?
Attend any ANZAC Day parade and you might see people carrying banners with holes cut in them. They’re supposed to cut any drag or wind resistance but do they do any good?
Amazon’s latest delivery drone looks strange - here’s how it flies.
Mountains? Pah. 60kph sprints and 220km stages? They’re nothing. The thing most troubling the teas battling for the yellow jersey is this time trial.
Riding a bike for 60 minutes doesn’t sound like the hardest thing in the world, but trying to cover 55km will push the Tour de France winner to the limit.
The perfect high dive has been modelled on the way a falling cat twists its body in mid air. Researchers at the University…
As the Tour de France approaches its final days, teams will be looking to place their top riders in the best possible position for the all-important individual time trial in the penultimate stage, where…
The big race of the annual Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix is coming up this Sunday at Albert Park, Melbourne – and it marks the beginning of a new era as a new set of rules and regulations are adopted…
Top contributors
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Professor of Physics, University of Lynchburg
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Experimental Aerodynamicist, Monash University
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Lecturer in Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland
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Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, University of Bath
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Senior Lecturer Sport Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex
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Deputy Head of the School of Sport, Equine & Animal Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
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Associate professor, Edith Cowan University
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PhD candidate, Edith Cowan University
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Senior Lecturer in Aerodynamics, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Research fellow, Sheffield Hallam University
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Senior Visiting Fellow, University of Bath
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Associate Research Scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University
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Neukom Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth College
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-, Edith Cowan University
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Former Academic Research Fellow, Khalifa University
