Question

Why are you unable to observe the wavelike motion of a soccer ball as it is kicked toward a goal?

Answer 1

Every object has both particle and wave nature. From de-Broglie wavelength formula:

`\lambda = (h)/(p)=(h)/(mv)`

where, λ is the wavelength, h is Planck's constant and p = mv is the momentum.

A soccer ball has large momentum due to high mass and velocity when it is kicked making the wavelength λ very small. Hence, we are not able to observe the wavelike motion of the soccer ball when it is kicked towards the goal.

on an average, a soccer ball weighs around 430 g= 0.43 kg. If it is kicked with an initial speed of 25 m/s, then

`\lambda =(6.63* 10^(-34) m^2 kg/s)/(0.43 kg* 25 m/s)=6.2 *10^(-35) m`

This is very small in magnitude and hence we are unable to observe its wavelike motion.