[personal] [Husker] DeAngelis (fwd)

[Mike Nolan]

> WOW! I am waiting to see the Posts to this brain breaking answer.
> 
> How does that correlate to the Bronco's kicking game?

Denver and Indianapolis are at roughly the same latitude, 39 degrees and 
45 minutes.  

The distance from the earth's surface to a centerline through the poles 
is equal to radius of the earth (3595 miles) at the equator, but at 
39'45" it is R x cos(X) or .49136 of the distance at the equator, or 
1767.4 miles.  

Thus the difference in altitude between Indianapolis (797 feet)
and Denver (5883 feet) would increase the relative speed of the earth's 
rotational vector by less than 1/10th of one percent. 

A slightly more significant effect from the relative altitudes between
Denver and Indianapolis might be attributed to the earth's gravitational 
pull, but that is more likely to affect distance than lateral direction.

Similarly, the density of the earth's atmosphere in Denver is significantly
less than in Indianapolis, though that too is more likely to affect
distance than direction.  

However, the density of the atmosphere is also likely to affect the friction
of a spinning object, permitting the football to rotate slightly faster
during its flight.  

The amount of spin on the football does affect the lateral movement of 
the ball.  However, unlike a baseball, increasing the amount of spin on 
a football tends to make it go straighter, not curve.  This is in some
measure due to the fact that the football is not spherical and spins on
an axis along its primary line of flight, while depending upon
the grip a baseball's spin may not be the same as its line of flight,
thus permitting it to veer off that line.

Therefore, a kicker in Denver should probably have slightly more
distance than a kicker in Indianapolis, and with a truer line of flight.
--
Mike Nolan