Watch What Backspin Can Do to a Basketball Dropped from 415 Feet [VIDEO]

The Magnus Effect is something that is more likely to be mentioned on The Big Bang Theory instead of my sports radio show. What it essentially means is that a spinning ball curves away from its principle flight path. The folks at Veritasium, a YouTube channel devoted to science and engineering videos were kind enough to demonstrate The Magnus Effect using a basketball dropped over the edge of Gordon Dam in Tasmania. In case you are wondering, that translates to a 126.5 meters or 415 feet drop from the edge of the dam. The results of the experiment were interesting. When the basketball was dropped without any spin, it does have a little movement from the wind but mostly lands in a similar spot fro where it was dropped. However, the results were much different when the backspin was applied to the ball. Enjoy the video and the science lesson. There will be a test later.