Football isn't just a popular sports loved by millions of Americans. It also has something to do with physics and this was highlighted when renowned astrophysicist and Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson live-tweeted Super Bowl XLIX with science facts and deflated footballs.
After announcing that he would be conducting an analysis of the game from the lens of an astrophysicist, the scientist used Twitter to provide an analysis on anything from the Grand Canyon to the DeflateGate, the controversy in the National Football League (NFL) that stemmed from allegations that the New England Patriots either intentionally or negligently underinflated the footballs that were used in the Jan. 18 AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Bill Belichick, head coach of NFL's New England Patriots, defended the New England Patriots last week saying that climactic conditions are responsible for the underinflated footballs that were used in the AFC Championship game. He explained that when you take footballs out of controlled environment and into the cold, they lost at least a pound of air pressure. Some scientists though are not persuaded by this explanation.
In one of his tweets, Tyson offered insights on the science behind the DeflateGate debunking Belichick's claims.
"For the Patriots to blame a change in temperature for 15% lower-pressures, requires balls to be inflated with 125-degree air," Tyson tweeted likely referring to the drop in air pressure when the balls are taken out to the 50-degree conditions during the AFC Championship Game. Colder conditions would have a larger impact on the air pressure.
Tyson, however , said that the balls that are slightly underinflated have aerodynamics similar to those that were properly inflated albeit they are easier to grab and catch.
"Slightly underinflated balls are easier to grab & catch, but their aerodynamics are no different from properly inflated balls," Tyson said.
Although Tyson said nothing about the commercials during the first half of the game to at least give some scientific bits and pieces on the car physics of Fast & Furious 7, for instance, he had a number of scientific trivia that have likely amused science nerds and football fans.
The popular scientists, for instance, tweeted that a 250 lb football player who runs at a speed of 15 mph has more kinetic energy compared with a bullet that was fired from AK-47 rifle. He also attributed the colorful fireworks in Arizona to Chlorine, Copper, Aluminum, Barium, Calcium, Iron, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Sodium and Strontium.
