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If a football had a (gauge) pressure of 12.5 psi inside at 80F and brought outside to cool to 50F what would its pressure be?
I am asking because two science populists have publicly gotten this straightforward calculation wrong.
Neil deGrasse Tyson has publicly stated a football to deflate 15% (note the accusation is 2 psi which is about 15% of the gauge pressure) it would need to cool from 125F to 50F.
Bill Nye has said "Rubbing the football, I don't think you can change the pressure. To really change the pressure, what you really need to change the pressure is one of these – the inflation needle" . (Despite that rubbing the football can by friction warm the football, which by the ideal gas law would increase the pressure).
EDIT: I should add that other people accept the physics argument from the Patriots correct. This article lists:
- Richard Binzel, professor of planetary science at MIT: "Professor Belichick got it exactly right",
- James Bird, asst prof of mech eng at Boston University "Everything they said doesn’t seem impossible to me. Based on simple ideal-gas-law calculations, I would not be surprised if the Patriots are vindicated ... Based on simple ideal-gas-law calculations, I would not be surprised if the Patriots are vindicated."
- Michael J. Naughton, chairman of the physics department at Boston College, called the ball-rubbing argument “technically possible. ... If there’s enough friction, it could change the pressure”
Of interest, one of the professors in this article made the common mistake of forgetting to account for atmospheric pressure and calculated a ball cooling from 80F to 53 F would change from 12.5 psi to 11.9 psi (which is what you'd get if you didn't factor in atmospheric pressure. The mistaken calculation: 12.5 psi (53 459.67)/(80 459.67) ~ 11.9 psi.
As for the Boston-area professors, could they be influenced by their football allegiances? They all said no. Naughton is a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, but said, “My answers to any of these questions don’t change regardless of whether I’m a fan or not.”
EDIT 2: Neil deGrasse Tyson admits his calculation was in error and states a ball cooling from 90F to 50F would account for a 2 psi loss in pressure.
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