There’s three seconds left on the clock at Huskie Stadium.

The NIU football team is down by a point and quarterback Dan Nicholson just completed a pass to wide receiver Matt Simon. The stage is set for a game-winning 44-yard field goal.

Huskie head coach Joe Novak grabs a ref and calls his final time out. Calmly, NIU place kicker Chris Nendick walks onto the field with the rest of the kicking team.

While thousands of fans look on, Nendick prepares for his big moment. Long snapper Nolan Owen grabs the ball and zeroes in on holder Greg Turner.

“Being able to see the holder is important to see where the ball is going,” Owen said. “If you don’t, you might short arm it, and the ball will go into the ground.”

With Turner holding the ball in place, making sure the laces are out, Nendick prepares to release the power of his mighty foot.

The next moment will last for only a blink of an eye. However, behind this short period is a world of numbers, formulas and elegance.

This is the world of physics. Let’s examine the next second in detail.

Nendick must first decide the angle at which the ball will travel. No matter how the senior kicks, the football will travel in an upside down “U” shape called a parabola. This motion is known as projectile motion and is due to gravity.

NIU associate physics professor Laurence Lurio examined the situation.

Assuming there is no air resistance, he found the best angle to kick the football would be at 45 degrees. This is because it maximizes the energy delivered by Nendick to the football.

If the senior was to aim higher than 45 degrees the kick would require a greater amount of energy. This is because a path at a higher angle would require more energy for the ball to travel the necessary 44 yards.

Similarly, if Nendick booted the ball at a lower angle, the kick would also require more energy. The larger amount of energy is needed in this situation so the ball will be high enough to clear to post.

But where is the energy to come from?

As Nendick swings his leg into the ball he begins to deliver energy from his foot to the pigskin. Thus, causing the ball to gain a velocity.

Velocity is the speed and direction in which an object travels. It is not only important how much energy Nendick delivers to the ball, but also where he delivers the energy.

“The sweet spot of the foot [to kick with] is off the big bone on your kicking foot. It’s where your toes all connect,” Nendick said. “You want to hit the bottom corner of the ball on the outside of it.”

Assuming the ball has a velocity of zero when Turner is holding it, Nendick would send the ball flying to the end zone at 19.86 meters per second, or about 65 feet per second in our scenario.

Now at an angle and with a velocity, the ball begins its trip through the air.

The clock has expired, fans are holding their breath, and the Huskies look on at the ball just clears the bottom of the goal post.

The refs make the signal. The kick is good! The crowd goes wild, the team runs on the field, and Novak lets out a smile.

It was simple and quick play, but there was a whole world of physics behind it.