A simple experiment deflates deflate gate

I apologize for starting yet another thread on this. However another poster posted this and I felt it needs to NOT get lost in the other thread and attention needs to be brought to it.

This thing has only 10 views since I watched it. It NEEDS EVERYONE's attentions!!!!!!!

Check out this quick experiment.



No math required (which will certainly benefit the lynch mob)
Inflate ball
Measure
Decrease ball temp by difference at field
measure again.
What do you know, pretty much the same difference reported by every media outlet

Possible pats hater and media rebuttes.
1. "But the Colts Balls stayed regulations!"
Response: The media is reporting the Colts were on the lookout for this. As such they would have made sure there own balls were fully inflated to the top half of the reg

2. "But that ball is completely submerged in water and will get colder faster"
Response, "Game balls were out there for 3 hours.".

Do I know this is what happened?
Of course not.

But it seems A LOT more plausible then ball boys secretly releasing pressure on the balls on the sideline.

Not sure if anyone has posted or commented anything about this other than 'cold weather makes ball lose pressure' so I wanted to get an idea of how much of an effect it could have, so I present you with this (skip to bottom if .

Ideal Gas Law (from highschool science): Pressure * Volume = mass * Gas constant * Temperature, (P*V = m*R*T)
Note: air does not behave as an ideal gas but I treating it as one is ok for getting an approximation.

I will use metric units since I'm Canadian and let's be honest they are better

R = 286.9 J/(kg.K) (source: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/individual-universal-gas-constant-d_588.html)
Lets say Initial Temperature (indoors) is about = 77F or T = 297K
Volume of football is about V = 4237 cubic centimeters or 0.004237 cubic meters (source: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/oldenburgj/ENGR1A/NFLFootballWtCalc.pdf)
Initial pressure assume as 12.5 psi or 86 kPa, adding atmospheric pressure of 101 kpa: P = 187 kPa
Solve for m in the equation shown above: m = 0.0093 kg of air in the football.

Since mass, volume and R are constant, we will use the same values to calculate the pressure if the temperature drops to 50F (game temperature if I recall), or to 282K
Solving for P gives 177.5 kPa.

----
Conclusion

So the difference is pressures of air in a football at these 2 different temperatures is roughly 9.5 kPa or equivalently about 1.5 psi. It should be noted that this would take some time to occur.

Therefore, although this is a rough approximation, I do not think it is unreasonable to assume that the cooler temperature outside contributed at least in some way to the balls being under-inflated if they were initially filled to the lower end of what is allowable.

Also, I found this article to be a good read: http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/football_physics_the_science_of_deflategate-152525

You're the first one.

I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Mossed said:

I will use metric units since I'm Canadian and let's be honest they are better

Click to expand...

I will agree that metrics is better than imperial to the same degree that Canadian bacon is better than.. real bacon.

All the math I'm reading (that isn't an obvious attempt to debunk) is showing exactly what you came up with, a loss of 1.5 psi over what is roughly a 30 degree change in temperature (indoor temperature to outdoor temperature).

This video should be required viewing by every media person that wants to talk or interview anyone
about "deflated balls".

dont know if you guys read peter kings article. it bothers me that he makes a conclusion that it is becoming clear humans were involved. its logically flawed. basically, he says both teams balls were tested prior to the game and passed (which he doesnt even know if true but assumes). then he says the balls were tested later on and the patriots balls were lower and the colts were not. therefore, a human element was involved.

thats easily debunked. what if the patriots completely deflated balls before testing and added warmer air into the ball. colts simply inflated or deflated the air already in the ball. temperature would have more of an effect on the patriots balls.

therefore, peter kings analysis is flawed and shoddy journalism.

the important thing to me is the meter reads tenths of a psi difference, which means 2lbs and .2lbs is a real possibility again.

Apparently the laws of nature took Sunday off

This simple video DEMONSTRATES EASILY that the psi difference reported by various media outlets can not only be explained by the weather, but that IT SHOULD BE EXPECTED!!!

Now, if you want to blame them for not over inflating in order to compensate, then go ahead.

BUT COME ON MAN!!!!

Any of you guys that have twitter, go ahead and send this to Matt Chatham.

I am sure he would LOVE to post this on his twitter.

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

scott99 said:

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

Click to expand...

If you believe the various media reports that the Colts were on the lookout and had this setup from the start, then you must also believe that the Colts would have made sure that there balls would have had no issues.

With that in mind wouldn't they have made sure there balls were properly inflated at the outdoor temperature rather then inflating them outside.

If this was something the Colts setup prior to the game as a few media sources have reported, I think it is common sense the colts would have not only made sure there balls were inflated at the upper limit, but that they were also inflated to that AT temperature.

scott99 said:

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

Click to expand...

What if the Colts kept them warm somehow. What if this is really a setup by them knowing what the
temperature would do to the balls. What if they pressurized their balls with cold air? If so there would be no pressure drop.

Maybe no one did anything wrong. maybe it comes down to when and how the balls were inflated and that process being different by each team!

This is explainable because it matters WHERE the footballs were inflated. For example if the footballs the Colts brought had been inflated outside, the difference in temperature would be minimal and thus the loss of PSI would also be minimal.

If the Pats footballs had been inflated indoors, where the temperature is likely around 70+ degrees, and add on that they were only inflated to league minimum - 12.5, and you would see a marked difference in PSI between a Colts ball and a Pats ball, once the Patriots football was exposed to the game day conditions.

It's not just the temperature outside, it's the temperature of the air that goes into the ball. This stuff gives me a headache but it's basically all science.

scott99 said:

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

Click to expand...

scott99 said:

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

Click to expand...

Maybe Luck prefers his footballs at the higher range, like Rodgers, or even higher illegally, like Rodgers.

The colts could have overinflated their footballs knowing that they would be weighed at the half. Or, they could have inflated their balls in the cold air (knowing they would be measured at the half,) so there would be no change in pressure (or very little since the temp was still dropping.)

JR4 said:

Maybe no one did anything wrong. maybe it comes down to when and how the balls were inflated and that process being different by each team!

Click to expand...

Only thing that would have had to happen for this to be true is if the Colts checked there inflation of the balls outside before handing them in. And maybe that is were they happen to do it.

The Boston Patriot said:

Maybe Luck prefers his footballs at the higher range, like Rodgers, or even higher illegally, like Rodgers.

Click to expand...

Andrew Luck is towing the party line...

While many quarterbacks — from stars like Aaron Rodgers to Super Bowl champs like Brad Johnson and also-rans like Matt Leinart — have said that a signal-caller’s personal preference, not the NFL’s rulebook, is the determining factor in how a ball feels, Luck didn’t offer much on that subject.

"Everyone has their preference and our equipment manager sort of handle our footballs in a sense," he said. "I get them as they are, I guess."

Click to expand...

Also a nice little jab by the Geico Caveman.

In Arizona for the Pro Bowl, Luck — the No. 1 pick of the all-star showcase’s draft — was talking about the short turnaround from AFC Championship heartbreak to lighthearted exhibition when he said this:

“The energy is sort of sucked out of you, you do feel deflated,” Luck said.

“Aww, shoot. Uh, well,” Luck stammered before letting out a sigh and smiling.

Click to expand...

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...s-patriots-feeling-deflated-article-1.2088174

scott99 said:

I appreciate all this science Mumbo Jumbo, but how do you explain the Colt's footballs were compliant and the Pat's footballs weren't ? They were both out there in the SAME weather. THE ONLY way weather can be used as an excuse is that the Colt's footballs started at 13.5 psi and the weather dropped 1 psi to the compliant 12.5, and the Pat's footballs started at 12.5 and weather dropped them to 11.5. Anything under 11.5 kills the weather excuse.

Click to expand...

First we dint know the measurements
Secondly if the colts and ravens planned this as an fu to the pats they could have inflated to 15 at noon and left the balls outside then brought them in just before testing.