TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Erez Garty: Football physics The "impossible" free kick

Unscramble the Blue Letters

In 1997, in a game between France and Brazil, a ynuog biirlaazn plyear nemad Roberto calros set up for a 35 mteer free kick. With no direct line to the goal, Carlos decided to attempt the seemingly ipsismolbe. His kick sent the ball flying wide of the players, but just before going out of bounds, it hooked to the left and soared into the goal. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object will move in the same dotieicrn and velocity until a force is aieplpd on it. When Carlos kicked the ball, he gave it direction and vteiocly, but what force made the ball swerve and score one of the most mfianigcnet goals in the hrtsoiy of the sport? The trick was in the spin. Carlos placed his kick at the lower right corner of the ball, sending it high and to the right, but also rotntaig around its axis. The ball started its flight in an apparently direct route, with air flowing on both sides and slowing it down. On one side, the air moved in the opposite direction to the ball's spin, causing irsenaecd pressure, while on the other side, the air moved in the same direction as the spin, creating an area of lower pressure. That difference made the ball curve towards the lower pressure zone. This phenomenon is called the Magnus eefcft. This type of kick, often referred to as a banana kick, is attempted rrleaugly, and it is one of the elements that makes the beautiful game btieufaul. But curving the ball with the precision needed to both bend around the wall and back into the goal is diffuiclt. Too high and it soars over the goal. Too low and it hits the ground before curving. Too wide and it never reaches the goal. Not wide enough and the defenders intercept it. Too slow and it hooks too early, or not at all. Too fast and it hooks too late. The same physics make it possible to score another apparently impossible goal, an unassisted corner kick. The mungas effect was first decuetmnod by Sir Isaac Newton after he noticed it while playing a game of tnines back in 1670. It also applies to golf balls, frsbiees and baseballs. In every case, the same thing happens. The ball's spin creates a pressure differential in the snouinrudrg air flow that curves it in the direction of the spin. And here's a question. Could you theoretically kick a ball hard enough to make it boomerang all the way around back to you? Sadly, no. Even if the ball didn't disintegrate on impact, or hit any obstacles, as the air slowed it, the angle of its deflection would increase, cinuasg it to spiral into smaller and slalemr circles until fnailly stopping. And just to get that spiral, you'd have to make the ball spin over 15 times faestr than Carlos's immortal kick. So good luck with that.

Open Cloze

In 1997, in a game between France and Brazil, a _____ _________ ______ _____ Roberto ______ set up for a 35 _____ free kick. With no direct line to the goal, Carlos decided to attempt the seemingly __________. His kick sent the ball flying wide of the players, but just before going out of bounds, it hooked to the left and soared into the goal. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object will move in the same _________ and velocity until a force is _______ on it. When Carlos kicked the ball, he gave it direction and ________, but what force made the ball swerve and score one of the most ___________ goals in the _______ of the sport? The trick was in the spin. Carlos placed his kick at the lower right corner of the ball, sending it high and to the right, but also ________ around its axis. The ball started its flight in an apparently direct route, with air flowing on both sides and slowing it down. On one side, the air moved in the opposite direction to the ball's spin, causing _________ pressure, while on the other side, the air moved in the same direction as the spin, creating an area of lower pressure. That difference made the ball curve towards the lower pressure zone. This phenomenon is called the Magnus ______. This type of kick, often referred to as a banana kick, is attempted _________, and it is one of the elements that makes the beautiful game _________. But curving the ball with the precision needed to both bend around the wall and back into the goal is _________. Too high and it soars over the goal. Too low and it hits the ground before curving. Too wide and it never reaches the goal. Not wide enough and the defenders intercept it. Too slow and it hooks too early, or not at all. Too fast and it hooks too late. The same physics make it possible to score another apparently impossible goal, an unassisted corner kick. The ______ effect was first __________ by Sir Isaac Newton after he noticed it while playing a game of ______ back in 1670. It also applies to golf balls, ________ and baseballs. In every case, the same thing happens. The ball's spin creates a pressure differential in the ___________ air flow that curves it in the direction of the spin. And here's a question. Could you theoretically kick a ball hard enough to make it boomerang all the way around back to you? Sadly, no. Even if the ball didn't disintegrate on impact, or hit any obstacles, as the air slowed it, the angle of its deflection would increase, _______ it to spiral into smaller and _______ circles until _______ stopping. And just to get that spiral, you'd have to make the ball spin over 15 times ______ than Carlos's immortal kick. So good luck with that.

Solution

meter
young
increased
finally
effect
brazilian
magnificent
tennis
applied
difficult
causing
velocity
frisbees
faster
rotating
magnus
direction
impossible
documented
player
surrounding
smaller
beautiful
carlos
regularly
named
history

Original Text

In 1997, in a game between France and Brazil, a young Brazilian player named Roberto Carlos set up for a 35 meter free kick. With no direct line to the goal, Carlos decided to attempt the seemingly impossible. His kick sent the ball flying wide of the players, but just before going out of bounds, it hooked to the left and soared into the goal. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object will move in the same direction and velocity until a force is applied on it. When Carlos kicked the ball, he gave it direction and velocity, but what force made the ball swerve and score one of the most magnificent goals in the history of the sport? The trick was in the spin. Carlos placed his kick at the lower right corner of the ball, sending it high and to the right, but also rotating around its axis. The ball started its flight in an apparently direct route, with air flowing on both sides and slowing it down. On one side, the air moved in the opposite direction to the ball's spin, causing increased pressure, while on the other side, the air moved in the same direction as the spin, creating an area of lower pressure. That difference made the ball curve towards the lower pressure zone. This phenomenon is called the Magnus effect. This type of kick, often referred to as a banana kick, is attempted regularly, and it is one of the elements that makes the beautiful game beautiful. But curving the ball with the precision needed to both bend around the wall and back into the goal is difficult. Too high and it soars over the goal. Too low and it hits the ground before curving. Too wide and it never reaches the goal. Not wide enough and the defenders intercept it. Too slow and it hooks too early, or not at all. Too fast and it hooks too late. The same physics make it possible to score another apparently impossible goal, an unassisted corner kick. The Magnus effect was first documented by Sir Isaac Newton after he noticed it while playing a game of tennis back in 1670. It also applies to golf balls, frisbees and baseballs. In every case, the same thing happens. The ball's spin creates a pressure differential in the surrounding air flow that curves it in the direction of the spin. And here's a question. Could you theoretically kick a ball hard enough to make it boomerang all the way around back to you? Sadly, no. Even if the ball didn't disintegrate on impact, or hit any obstacles, as the air slowed it, the angle of its deflection would increase, causing it to spiral into smaller and smaller circles until finally stopping. And just to get that spiral, you'd have to make the ball spin over 15 times faster than Carlos's immortal kick. So good luck with that.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
air moved	2
magnus effect	2

Important Words

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brazil
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