A soccer ball can curve mid-air by using the same physics as an airplane wing
Professional soccer players manipulate the laws of physics to make balls curve mid-air, utilizing the same aerodynamic principles that allow massive airplanes to lift off the ground and remain in flight.
When a player strikes a soccer ball with spin, they trigger the Magnus effect, creating a pressure difference similar to an airplane wing. As the ball rotates at up to 0.4 radians per second, the air moves faster on one side than the other, generating a force that can deviate its path by half a meter. This application of Bernoulli's principle allows free-kick specialists to bend shots around defensive walls at angles exceeding 30 degrees.
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