Passing, blocking, running, tackling, kicking–the main physical actions of American football illustrate several fundamental concepts in physics, biomechanics and math. Inertia, momentum, vectors and parabolas are as much a part of the game as helmets and huddles.   In partnership with the National Science Foundation and the National Football League, NBC Learn has created 10 videos that explore several concepts:  

  • Newton’s three laws of motion
  • The Pythagorean theorem
  • Projectile motion
  • Vectors *  Geometric shapes
  • Kinematics *  Torque *  Hydration and nutrition   All this week, we’ll be providing additional stories that take the concepts explored in the video further. Here’s a sampling:  
  1. When is a straight line not the shortest distance between two points?
  2. How many pounds of water does an NFL player lose on the field?
  3. Why has soccer-style placekicking replaced the straight-ahead, toe style?
  4. How much energy does it take to stop a running back?
  5. When it comes to a chase, how are ball carriers like zebras? (The real kind, not the ones with a whistle and yellow flag in their pockets.)
  6. What shapes fly best?   So next weekend, when you are watching your favorite team square off with the opponent, you might have a chance to say the vector of the prolate spheroid perfectly traced a planned parabolic trajectory.