The Search for the Ideal Soccer Ball

The purpose of this experiment was to test a variety of soccer balls on the market and find out which would perform best under different conditions. The performance of the soccer ball was tested on different types of sufaces (grass or turf), different inflation pressures (1.0 atm or 0.8 atm) and different sizes (4 or 5). In order to have a constant force applied on the soccer ball an artificial leg was built, which was raised to a height of 30 cm which was released to kick the ball.

During the investigation size 4 soccer balls performed better on the average than size 5 soccer balls. The type of surface the ball was kicked on had the greatest effect. Soccer balls kicked on turf reached a much longer distance than on grass. The soccer balls inflated to a higher pressure (1.0 atm), on the average reached a longer distance than those inflated to a lower pressure (0.8 atm).

The best performing size 5 soccer ball on grass and turf was the Brine Spirit inflated on 0.8 atm. The best performing size 4 soccer ball on grass was the Spalding Chameleon at 0.8 atm, while on turf the Wilson Advantage inflated to 1.0 performed the best.

Research Done By:

Philip Nicholson
Cousino

Dalibor Nenadov
Sterling

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