The Roberto Carlos Spiral

ORAL

Abstract

We study the motion of spinning spheres in a fluid at high Reynolds number and show that, in the ``low gravity limit,'' their trajectory is a spiral, the curvature of which increases exponentially. We show that this spiral was used by Roberto Carlos in soccer to score amazing goals and then discuss its importance in other ball games.

Authors

  • Christophe Clanet

    Ecole Polytechnique, France

  • Guillaume Dupeux

    Ecole Polytechnique

  • Anne le Goff

    Ecole Polytechnique

  • David Quere

    ESPCI