Expert: Thom Brooks - 4/8/2008

Question
Your answer stated, "The circumference of the ball width-wise ranges between 28 to 28 1/2 inches while the length-wise circumference is 11 to 11 1/4 inches.  These dimensions are applied to NFL footballs; the balls used by children are smaller while college footballs vary slightly from professionally-used ones."  I can't interpret it.
The shape of a football is that of a prolate spheroid.  It is a solid of rotation about the long axis.  The proper dimensions would be its length and the circumference about the axis of rotation.  How do I extract that data from the answer given?

Answer
Alex, hello.

The NCAA football is 16 inches long. Different footballs have also been recorded. But all footballs weight must be between 15 and 16 ounces.

Contact the manufacturer and they will give you the specifics of their design.

Take care,


Thom Brooks