Curveballs Spin 2,000 Times Per Minute in Order to Curve

What makes a curveball curve in baseball? Watch Museum Educator Jeannine explain how force and spin act on a ball as it moves through the air. First, as the ball moves forward, it pushes on the air in front of it and the air in front of it pushes back. Because the ball is spinning, some of the air is being pulled along the side of the ball and then forced in one direction. That has the effect of pushing the ball in the opposite direction, because of Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Additionally, the faster a curveball spins, the more air will be pushing the ball, and the farther it will curve!