The Physical Ball is a portrait of the thin spherical shell that is the modern soccer ball. The picture explores the physics of the intimate relationship between this shell and the air inside and outside of it. It tells the story in drawings, diagrams, imagery, equations, and words, of how the air pushes from the inside to make the ball round and predictable when kicked or bouncing, and how interactions between the ball's surface and the surrounding air, cause forces that let us control its flight in the most delicate of ways. The picture is a celebration of the physics that we players learn to take advantage of as we spend countless hours with our favorite toy.
