• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 08:36
CET 14:36
KST 22:36
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Clem wins HomeStory Cup 282HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info3herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational14SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win2RSL Season 4 announced for March-April7Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win3Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion8
StarCraft 2
General
HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview Clem wins HomeStory Cup 28 Stellar Fest "01" Jersey Charity Auction StarCraft 2 Not at the Esports World Cup 2026 Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win
Tourneys
HomeStory Cup 28 RSL Season 4 announced for March-April PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar) StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
Mutation # 511 Temple of Rebirth The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 510 Safety Violation Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report
Brood War
General
Can someone share very abbreviated BW cliffnotes? 2024 BoxeR's birthday message Liquipedia.net NEEDS editors for Brood War BSL Season 21 - Complete Results Bleak Future After Failed ProGaming Career
Tourneys
The Casual Games of the Week Thread [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2 Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
EVE Corporation Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Quickbooks Payroll Service Official Guide Quickbooks Customer Service Official Guide
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Play, Watch, Drink: Esports …
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1678 users

help physics question

Blogs > kdog3683
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
kdog3683
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States916 Posts
February 21 2008 21:40 GMT
#1
How do i calculate the force of a kick?

As in me kicking a soccer ball, how do i calculate that force?

I don't think i can with just the materials I have...

Question: how do i devise a method so that I can control the amount of imput force?

This is my idea. Take a baseball bat, weight it. poke the soccer ball with the tip as if you were playing pool. nvm... Just realized my weight would be added on to the baseball bat's.

Any Ideas?

*
Multiply your efforts.
fanatacist
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
10319 Posts
February 21 2008 21:44 GMT
#2
F = ma

The instantaneous acceleration of the ball after you hit it, multiplied by the mass of the soccer ball, is equal to the force of the kick.

Your baseball bat idea would work if you consider relative acceleration between the bat and the ball.
Peace~
skyglow1
Profile Blog Joined April 2005
New Zealand3962 Posts
February 21 2008 21:45 GMT
#3
What materials do you have? If you wanna measure the force of a kick, just use F=ma and measure the acceleration of the ball and its mass and multiply them together.
datscilly
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States529 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 03:24:55
February 21 2008 21:56 GMT
#4
Another way to do it, if you cannot measure the acceleration of the ball right after it is kicked, is to use Momentum = Force * Time.

The time of contact in a soccer ball kick is ~11 milliseconds, found through google.

Momentum can be calculated using the distance before it lands together with the initial angle.
Hypnosis
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States2061 Posts
February 21 2008 22:37 GMT
#5
On February 22 2008 06:44 fanatacist wrote:
F = ma

The instantaneous acceleration of the ball after you hit it, multiplied by the mass of the soccer ball, is equal to the force of the kick.

Your baseball bat idea would work if you consider relative acceleration between the bat and the ball.



To clear up what he is saying: The time of contact of your foot and the ball=instantaneous acceleration. Physics is sort of retarded because everything is based on things that are really hard or impossible to find (zero air resistance etc). you would have to round to find the time of contact then just multiply by the mass and air resistance and then you have to find out how far it went before it hit the ground and use that to calculate the horizontal acceleration and shit.
Science without religion is lame, Religion without science is blind
skyglow1
Profile Blog Joined April 2005
New Zealand3962 Posts
February 21 2008 23:05 GMT
#6
On February 22 2008 06:56 datscilly wrote:
Another way to do it, if you cannot measure the acceleration of the ball right after it is kicked, is to use Energy = Force * Time.

The time of contact in a soccer ball kick is ~11 milliseconds, found through google.

Energy can be calculated either through the maximum height of the ball, or the distance before it lands together with the initial angle.


You could also use something like force = (change in momentum) / time which might be easier cause you could measure the velocity as soon as the ball leaves the foot, and measure the time from when the foot first touches the ball then the ball leaves.
Luddite
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2315 Posts
February 21 2008 23:09 GMT
#7
This is an interesting question. The problem is that the soccer ball isn't at (all the sort of ideal object that you'd like it to be. It compresses a lot. You'll make contact for a long time, putting force on the ball the whole time, and the force will be constantly changing as the ball compresses.

One way I can think of doing this would be to record yourself kicking the ball on a video camera. By watching the video, you'll be able to see how long you were making contact with the ball, and how fast it was going after you kicked it. weigh the ball, calculate how much energy it had after you kicked it (1/2 * M * V^2), and then divide the energy by the distance over which you kicked it (work = force * distance).

That's sort of a quick and dirty method for finding the AVERAGE amount of force you put on the ball. If you want more detailed information, you'll need fancier equipment. For example, you could put some little springs inside the ball, and have a computer record how far the springs compress as you kick it. That could tell you how much force you're applying at any given time.

Hope this helps.
Can't believe I'm still here playing this same game
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25991 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-21 23:34:14
February 21 2008 23:32 GMT
#8
Use a pendulum. Start it at a known mass and height. That = initial potential energy. Let it freefall and smack the ball and then see how high the pendulum ends on the other side. That = final potential energy.

Assume no losses and solve for kinetic energy:
iPE - fPE = iKE - fKE
m1g(h1-h2) = 0.5m2v^2
v = SQRT(2g(h2-h2)(m1/m2))

Get the masses (measure) and now you have velocity (solved). I'm sure you could translate into force in a varierty of ways, from assuming friction and using distance to stop, or using a camera and seeing the time of contact.

Someone probably has a better idea. You could also order a $5 load cell...
Moderator
datscilly
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States529 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 03:23:15
February 21 2008 23:52 GMT
#9
On February 22 2008 08:05 skyglow1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 22 2008 06:56 datscilly wrote:
Another way to do it, if you cannot measure the acceleration of the ball right after it is kicked, is to use Energy = Force * Time.

The time of contact in a soccer ball kick is ~11 milliseconds, found through google.

Energy can be calculated either through the maximum height of the ball, or the distance before it lands together with the initial angle.


You could also use something like force = (change in momentum) / time which might be easier cause you could measure the velocity as soon as the ball leaves the foot, and measure the time from when the foot first touches the ball then the ball leaves.


Force = (change in Momentum) / Distance is the correct equation. Distance would be the distance over which the force acts on the ball, and force would be the average force over that distance.

this is wrong
Plutonium
Profile Joined November 2007
United States2217 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 00:18:15
February 22 2008 00:04 GMT
#10
Get a tetherball or a soccer ball tied to a string or rope, weigh it, tie the other end off to something like the crossbar of a soccer goal or an overhead beam, and lengthen the string so that the ball's just touching the ground.

Kick the ball and measure the angle the rope makes with the vertical. Easiest way to do this would to just have another person on a stepladder on the side with a protractor.

The force of your kick will translate into the potential energy of the height, so use trigonometry to calculate how high the ball rose.

The Equation is:

KE = MGH

aka

Kinetic Energy (The force of your kick in Joules) = Mass of ball (kg) x 9.8 meters/second x height ball rose off of ground(meters)




Luddite
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2315 Posts
February 22 2008 00:04 GMT
#11
On February 22 2008 08:52 datscilly wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 22 2008 08:05 skyglow1 wrote:
On February 22 2008 06:56 datscilly wrote:
Another way to do it, if you cannot measure the acceleration of the ball right after it is kicked, is to use Energy = Force * Time.

The time of contact in a soccer ball kick is ~11 milliseconds, found through google.

Energy can be calculated either through the maximum height of the ball, or the distance before it lands together with the initial angle.


You could also use something like force = (change in momentum) / time which might be easier cause you could measure the velocity as soon as the ball leaves the foot, and measure the time from when the foot first touches the ball then the ball leaves.


Force = (change in Momentum) / Distance is the correct equation. Distance would be the distance over which the force acts on the ball, and force would be the average force over that distance.

No he was right. Force = (change in momentum)/time, or (change in energy)/distance. Doesn't really matter which you use, because either way you just end up measuring the velocity of the ball.
Can't believe I'm still here playing this same game
Plutonium
Profile Joined November 2007
United States2217 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 00:12:04
February 22 2008 00:09 GMT
#12
Is he looking for a theoretical way, or a practical way, like if he has to do it with home-made materials?

Because some of your suggestions pretty much require him to have slow-motion cameras.

Also, my way's the easiest.
Luddite
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2315 Posts
February 22 2008 00:19 GMT
#13
On February 22 2008 09:04 Plutonium wrote:
Get a tetherball or any sort of soccer-sized ball on a string, weigh it, and tie it something like the crossbar of a soccer goal, and then measure how far off the ground it is, or to make your life easy, just lengthen the string so it's touching the ground.

Kick it and measure the angle the rope makes with the vertical. Easist way to do this would to just have another person on a stepladder on the side with a protractor.

The force of your kick will translate into the potential energy of the height, so use trigonometry to calculate how high the ball rose.

Kinetic Energy (The force of your kick in Joules) = Mass of ball (kg) x 9.8 meters/second x Height (meters)





This is a good idea, except I'm pretty sure he could kick the ball high enough to get it all the way up (so that it runs out of rope.). You'd have to either tie to by a really long string to something really tall like a building (hard to set up), or else use a really heavy ball... and kicking a really heavy ball is painful.
Can't believe I'm still here playing this same game
Plutonium
Profile Joined November 2007
United States2217 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 00:23:36
February 22 2008 00:20 GMT
#14
He never said anything about measuring his hardest kick, just any kick.

Also, why do I keep telling this guy how to do awesome physics experiments with homemade materials? This is the same guy who thought it would be fine to heat oil over an open flame.

/Isn't Bill Nye.
BluzMan
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
Russian Federation4235 Posts
February 22 2008 00:24 GMT
#15
You need to know the elastic properties of the ball (or, to be more precise, the elastical properties of the process), otherwise, it's unsoluble. "Imperfect" hit means it has a duration, if you assume the hit is perfect, it's duration is zero, force is infinity.

Your problem, however, seems quite strange. Unless you want to do a crash test, there's no other need for the force (or acceleration, they're the same thing). You usually measure acceleration in pulse-like processes when you want to test if something breaks. Otherwise, it means close to nothing. It's much like with pulse lasers - at the first glance, a terawatt sounds like a lot, but the duration of the pulse is a femtosecond, so the actual energy is puny.
You want 20 good men, but you need a bad pussy.
BluzMan
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
Russian Federation4235 Posts
February 22 2008 00:25 GMT
#16
On February 22 2008 07:37 Hypnosis wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 22 2008 06:44 fanatacist wrote:
F = ma

The instantaneous acceleration of the ball after you hit it, multiplied by the mass of the soccer ball, is equal to the force of the kick.

Your baseball bat idea would work if you consider relative acceleration between the bat and the ball.



To clear up what he is saying: The time of contact of your foot and the ball=instantaneous acceleration. Physics is sort of retarded because everything is based on things that are really hard or impossible to find (zero air resistance etc). you would have to round to find the time of contact then just multiply by the mass and air resistance and then you have to find out how far it went before it hit the ground and use that to calculate the horizontal acceleration and shit.


Retarded physics gave your sorry ass a computer, so shut the fuck up please.
You want 20 good men, but you need a bad pussy.
Plutonium
Profile Joined November 2007
United States2217 Posts
February 22 2008 00:26 GMT
#17
True, the ballistic pendulum approach would only work in the situation of a pure inelastic collision, though he could just do the same thing by pushing a bowling ball, which wouldn't lose energy through deformation.

I think we're just doing his homework for him.
Luddite
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2315 Posts
February 22 2008 00:37 GMT
#18
haha yeah, he should be doing it, not us. Still, I think it's fun to think about these sorts of problems.

The really hard question of course, is how much error is involved in measuring the force?
Can't believe I'm still here playing this same game
SpiritoftheTunA
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
United States20903 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 00:48:26
February 22 2008 00:44 GMT
#19
most of the people saying use kinetic energy = potential energy are forgetting the horizontal element of the velocity that contributes to the energy EDIT: and aren't relating it back to the force anyway

the person saying energy = force * time is just plain wrong

all the people mentioning time are thinking of impulse, not force OR energy

the time of contact between your foot and the ball is NOT instantaneous acceleration

you guys are fucked up

edit: oh, and the person mentioning elasticity (probably something to do with coefficient of restitution) is severely overestimating your physics class

the person saying force = change in momentum / distance is a fucking moron

the person who said force = change in momentum (impulse) / time is right though (assuming they meant duration of impact)
posting on liquid sites in current year
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25991 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-02-22 03:31:07
February 22 2008 03:30 GMT
#20
On February 22 2008 09:44 SpiritoftheTuna wrote:
most of the people saying use kinetic energy = potential energy are forgetting the horizontal element of the velocity that contributes to the energy EDIT: and aren't relating it back to the force anyway

the person saying energy = force * time is just plain wrong

all the people mentioning time are thinking of impulse, not force OR energy

the time of contact between your foot and the ball is NOT instantaneous acceleration

you guys are fucked up

edit: oh, and the person mentioning elasticity (probably something to do with coefficient of restitution) is severely overestimating your physics class

the person saying force = change in momentum / distance is a fucking moron

the person who said force = change in momentum (impulse) / time is right though (assuming they meant duration of impact)


Thanks for your help and suggestions to help the OP!
Moderator
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Invitational
12:00
Playoffs
MaxPax vs ByuNLIVE!
SHIN vs Classic
Creator vs Cure
WardiTV885
IndyStarCraft 198
Rex133
IntoTheiNu 9
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
IndyStarCraft 198
SortOf 150
Rex 133
ProTech121
trigger 15
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 47901
Killer 5406
Sea 2474
Hyuk 2404
Rain 1819
BeSt 1691
Bisu 1649
Horang2 1210
Flash 997
Jaedong 711
[ Show more ]
Larva 398
Stork 378
Soma 291
Shuttle 256
actioN 240
Leta 231
firebathero 223
Snow 173
Mini 157
JYJ 121
Soulkey 107
Hyun 93
hero 83
Mind 78
Rush 77
Backho 73
ToSsGirL 69
Aegong 67
Sea.KH 66
Sharp 53
[sc1f]eonzerg 45
JulyZerg 45
Liquid`Ret 40
NotJumperer 39
Free 25
sSak 25
sorry 20
IntoTheRainbow 19
zelot 18
910 10
SilentControl 10
Terrorterran 9
GoRush 9
Purpose 7
HiyA 7
NaDa 7
Dota 2
singsing2359
qojqva960
Dendi397
XcaliburYe111
Counter-Strike
zeus1474
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King437
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor200
Other Games
B2W.Neo1463
hiko298
Hui .237
crisheroes215
RotterdaM178
Pyrionflax153
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 37
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 1
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos4202
• TFBlade1200
• Stunt1051
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
10h 24m
RongYI Cup
1d 21h
herO vs Maru
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-02-04
HSC XXVIII
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Acropolis #4 - TS4
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W7
Escore Tournament S1: W8
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
FISSURE Playground #3
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.