Bill Nye ’77 on the physics of flying discs

During a visit to the Cornell University campus, “Science Guy” Bill Nye ’77 weighs in on the workings of Frisbee-type saucers (and plays a round of disc golf).

[@KW-qd8gu]

Finding out that Bill Nye plays my favorite sport just made my day

[@raddaks2039]

The inner child in me is very happy.

[@JacksonOwex]

@@raddaks2039 The child in me feels OLD seeing him getting old!

[@beenschmokin]

He also thinks little boys are trapped in girl's bodies...

[@Javaman92]

Same here, disc golf rocks!

[@Janiix89]

Right?!

[@Tobb2509]

We need Bill Nye on a Jomezpro practise round!

[@EricJenkinsDiscGolf]

This would be epic 🤘

[@TommyGunz3]

Never would have thought Billy Nye the Science Guy would teach me about Disc Golf. But I am here for it!

[@seymourglass26]

But now that you're seeing it, are you surprised? I mean, it's basically aerospace engineering in sport form.

[@cable7152]

​@seymourglass26 it makes perfect sense actually, not surprised at all he plays disc golf.

[@jeffreyhomburg822]

He was an Ultimate player and coach back in the 1970s and he's been playing disc golf more in recent years, with players like Stork (#003) and other legends of the game!

[@blee916]

Playing a round with Bill Nye goes straight on the bucket list

[@untrustworthyshelfing9953]

Forget flight numbers, I need equations on my discs.

[@Subdivision21]

PLEASE PLEASE DO AN ADVANCED PHYSICS TUTORIAL SERIES ON DISC FLIGHT 🙏 Bill Nye the Disc Flight Guy

[@ryanfawcett33]

He's no Bill Nye, but this was an excellent video made a month ago on the physics of why discs fly the way they do! I learned so much. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nH2XdZt3gs6cfqs&ab_channel=PeteUlibarri

[@jackto7669]

Please!

[@commonbrown]

We need this content!

[@jpric155]

IM GLAD IM NOT THE ONLY PERSON TYPING IN ALL CAPS HERE

[@Xevv0s]

One of the disc golf companies better make a bill nye “tour” series disc

[@andrewlundiii1387]

The Dark Art of Disc Golf!!!

[@charleslybrand4342]

I NEED MORE OF THIS! Bill please! I beg you! Do a 30 minute special on the dynamics of discs in flight! PLEASE!

[@tomholton6912]

Second this

[@danielschwagler6229]

He throws like an ultimate player.....awesome to see one of my favorite guys playing my favorite sport. Been showing his show to my students for years and there's nothing better.

[@ar374]

I believe he played ultimate for the Buds when he attended CU

[@sethgreenwood6488]

It says in the video that he started an ultimate team

[@carterbotto1992]

Is no one going to talk about the fact that he is throwing all green discs? Savage

[@DiscGolfandOATmeal]

More physics on disc golf... More More More More 😊

[@WHEATSFPV]

BILL BILL BILL BILL BILL ! the og

[@grimrecords7656]

My favorite “scientist” plays my favorite sport, at 77. Hero.

[@fishiefish6179]

He’s 68. The title is saying he graduated class of ‘77. I thought it said he was 77 at first too lol

[@BiteNuk3r]

That needed to be much, much longer. More Bill playing disc golf please!

[@ProdigyDisc]

Love to hear Bill break the flight physics down!

[@joeburns9688]

Bill Nye the Disc Golf Guy!! ❤️🥏⛓️🤙

[@austinmreynold]

As a fellow hucker of discs this absolutely was the best thing to pass by my feed all day

[@Reverend_Mojo]

Now I want to see a Bill Nye In the bag, I NEED to know what discs he throws!!!

[@EricJenkinsDiscGolf]

This is so awesome 🤘 it's nice to hear the science behind my favorite sport. Also to know that Bill plays it is crazy 🙌

[@davegreen8569]

I ran into Bill Nye years ago while picking up hiking permits at the base of Mount St. Helens. Saw him again along the rim. He was strapping on backcountry skis. Next to glissading down the mountain, meeting Bill in his natural environment was the highlight of the trip.

[@thisissostupidqsdfva]

1:19 for a crushed putt

[@banditdiscgolf898]

What's up Bill! Thanks for playing! They used to show us your science videos in school. Ive seen alot of them. Glad to see you enjoy the sport as well.

[@lsapg09]

BUT BILL, HOW DO I GET MY HYZERS TO BE NOSE DOWN?

[@njott1021]

Pour the coffee!

[@brekkoh]

Amazing one liner at the end

[@Alex-xg2yo]

Love Bill hes awesome!! Glad he loved DG just like I do

[@larryg2705]

It's always so awesome to see disc golf hit the mainstream!!

[@clintonchico9547]

I would love to play disc golf with Bill Nye.

[@JLMM1113]

I hope Bill Nye lives FOREVER!!!

[@kenulozas8635]

Love this! I've been playing disc golf since 1994! 🥏🥏🥏🥏

[@MrPorten]

Nice team stamp! Would love to hear more about gyroscopic procession, off axis torque, and all the other factors that go into this dark art!!!

[@adamgrigsby9372]

I love that Cornell's logo looks like a disc golf basket.

[@aramdg]

god, I love Bill.

[@kingchuckfinley]

This is amazing!

[@coasternut3091]

Air foil crates lift, spin creates stability, force creates forward movement. It works basically like a glider if the wings were 360° Love this man and this sport - Flight Instructor

[@CUDImyBUDDY]

Bill Nye the disc golf guy!

[@OkieTradez]

Bill loved to watch you as a kid in the 90s and early 200s in science class. you always made science fun!

[@arcticowl2401]

Without proper punctuation that statement sounded really weird

[@BaysingersDiscGolfChannel]

LOVE IT!! 🥰

[@sleepyjesus7265]

This is a good start, but a more thorough explanation of the physics of turn and fade would be very interesting to hear. I've argued a lot with my buddies about why the disc behaves how it does and which features of the disc exactly cause under or over stability.

[@mightypensword]

One of my childhood heroes.

[@vtmike13]

I love that Bill Nye is into the same two niche things as me--- disc golf and swing dance

[@chapstickit]

Reppin the DC Breeze hat!! We know which disc sport is in his heart ;)

[@ThrowinWithOwen]

Dang, didn't know Bill was chill like that.

[@tfilipow7]

Please get Bill to play a celebrity round. We need a Pro Am in disc golf to get some more viewership from the main stream.

[@Zeyervv]

Bill Nye the Disc Golf Guy

[@jahmic]

I'm starting to like this timeline again.

[@nktaylo1]

The Marie Curie MVP Reactor exists; I would pay good money for a Bill Nye MVP Inertia. I'd pay a lot of dollar bill, bill, bill, bill, bill, bills!

[@rowan1043]

MORE DISC GOLF WITH BILL!!

[@ericjepson3765]

Dark art indeed

[@grunskm1]

Hear me out: All discs have sub-optimal airfoils because they must be symmetric due to rotation. This causes discs to be especially prone to stalling, which causes them to pitch up as they lose energy. However, due to the rotation of the disc and the effect of gyroscopic procession, the pitching-up motion is instead realized as a roll, causing the characteristic fade to left at the end of a right handed backhand.

[@Flyzguy]

Oh my gosh I found someone else who knows this!!! And the high speed nose down moment of discs with a lot of camber ("low wing") to roll right for RHBH. It's all just airfoil pitching moments and forces - but precessed 90 degrees!

[@grunskm1]

@@Flyzguy Yes! A slept-on aspect of disc flight dynamics. I'd love to see someone like Scott Manley cover this.

[@Flyzguy]

I could run some CFD cases and contribute. I'm a professional aerospace engineer and I've done some educational work, but I have no video production experience

[@NoRuesThe420]

Bill Nye the Disc Golf Guy 🎶🎵🎵🎶🎶🎶

[@Shanecohen]

this is beautiful.

[@JeremyReger]

This solidified the fact that I’ll never play disc golf again

[@rscraig9855]

Watching this before my round of discgolf

[@Monkey-biz]

Bill Nye with the Innova team stamps!!

[@alexsprague8872]

Can we get an in the bag video?

[@xsuperbmentality]

Bill needs a signature disc

[@zachw4829]

Bill, bill, bill, bill!

[@JosephValenti]

The only thing iI am bummed about is that I didn't know here was playing here! We play in and around the finger lakes like every weekend!!

[@MrBlates]

I need a practice round with bill

[@user-cx1dq3wj4v]

Bill Nye and disc golf. Can't lose

[@JasonLuther1]

Now we need bill to explain why Kc Pro Rocs are the best disc ever

[@jojog8304]

Spinning disc = 1d gyroscope Edge lip = airfoil Together it holds orientation (gyro)and flies(airfoil)... Mind that anything with a coeff of drag will "fly", some bad some good.

[@JacksonOwex]

0:25 Cool! I didn't know he was at the forefront of flying disc sports!!!

[@russellsullivan7366]

Respect 🫡

[@KnickKiller]

Very cool.

[@emmanuelmartinez641]

Bill!! Bill!! Bill!! Bill!! Bill Nye the disc guy!

[@TabascoSour]

He’s got pretty good form

[@fodank]

You go, Bill. I'm seventy and still throwing. Will be as long as I can and then some in the next life.

[@spikehyzer2323]

I knew it! The recent test of spin rates had 3 women in the top 15 even though they all had 10 MPH less arm speed and significantly less distance. EVERYONE on that vid said spin equals distance. I countered that arm speed equals distance and spin helps hold the line (throw a weak sky anny and it goes as far but tails out). And Bill just affirmed it! He said the spin is for holding the line.

[@roddinandracin1153]

This is awesome, now if I only understood scientific terms

[@crusher26638]

OK now who do I kick off my dream card to add Bill?

[@dustinheese]

Where should I play during AbGradCon?

[@elliotmcconnell5449]

Ah. This is cornells little 9 hole course. Thats where I first played!

[@BaylenRailey]

Whaaaat Bill Nye has a team innova stamped disc?

[@user-hc6kj9fp8u]

BILL NYE PLAYS DISC GOLF?!?!?! NO WAY!!!!!

[@shneekyshnake]

Ok Bill but what makes an overstable disc an overstable disc? Why does it cut to the left when thrown with a Right hand back hand and cut to the right when thrown with a Left hand back hand??

[@spartacus10]

Quite a few factors there, but I believe the main differences come in the injection molding phase. Here's a quick vid of that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipzVZopvZc2LpLM . The higher the parting line is (line on the outer rim) the more over-stable the disc will generally be. That has to do with how it interacts with surrounding air as it flies. For a 12-14 speed the line is high and those discs have to be thrown at high RPM to get them to fly as intended. Lower RPM means mode fade for drivers. For putters and mids the speed/rpm to stability math becomes different. Then there's all the different plastic types, how many nicks a disc has, textured rims/patches on disc etc. Could make a long video out of that. But main difference comes down to the parting line. Super domey discs will be beefcakes.

[@shneekyshnake]

@@spartacus10 Why does it go left and not right though? (RHBH)

[@ajr2112]

​@shneekyshnake It's actually really complicated. I looked into this and long story short, it's because the disc is a gyroscope and therefore it has angular momentum; whether the force of lift (i.e. the torque applied to the disc) is centered infront or behind the center of the disc while it travels will determine if it "turns" or "fades." things that impact the location of the center of lift are the shape of the disc, how fast the disc is falling, and nose angle. Understable discs usually have a more convex dome and less of a ramp angle on their rim. Overstable discs are usually flatter on top and have a steep ramped rim.

[@Flyzguy]

Yep AJR has it right. To understand a disc rolling left and right, we have to understand it's a gyroscope with forces trying to pitch it up or down. At the end of a flight the air is hitting the nose at a higher angle of attack, trying to push the nose up. Depending on spin direction, this nose up torque precesses (gyroscope) acts like a left or right roll.

[@shneekyshnake]

@@Flyzguy Found some good explanations when looking up the Magnus Effect

[@bennyoreilly8048]

Whats Bill bagging?

[@ericj.7150]

Bill Nye the Frisbee guy!

[@tholly2551]

That makes sense

[@msully1990]

Someone needs to tell the science guy to follow through on his shot.

[@adrianzapata4723]

what's with the "77"?

[@johanekekrantz7325]

The most simultaneously interesting and confusing physics of disc golf is fade and turn. If anything needs a nice clear explanation, thats the one.

[@jpric155]

OMG MY CHILDHOOD IDOL PLAYS MY FAVORITE SPORT

[@nautilusshell940]

WE DID IT REDDIT!

[@JHfan2008]

DG just got cooler thanks to Bill Nye. Awesome.

[@dylancolt6665]

Bill! Bill! Bill!

[@maxray29]

time to get Bill on Jomez!

[@rscraig9855]

Bill please start a discgolf channel!! Please!!!!!

[@OmegaSlice108]

This is where you find out that disc golfers on the internet can't read

[@Ryan-dg]

They need bill nye on a jomez practice round

[@ThatGuyRicky000]

BILL! BILL! BILL!

[@IceBergTV]

😮😮😮

[@jason4485]

Bill Nye the Hyzer guy

[@brannnnnnn]

"the dark art of disc golf"

[@bigsmokiee55]

If he could've just kept going and talked about the body producing power to get that torque and spin on the disc

[@davidmish6218]

Bill Nye is an absolute legend

[@ryandaley1270]

can one of these disc manufacturers put Bill Nye on payroll to make disc golf videos promoting the sport? Pros like Ricky Wysocki or Nate Sexton are always putting out beginner/promotional videos for disc golf, but I think we need Bill doing these! Who do you think someone with no disc golf knowledge would listen to? Pros Ricky Wysocki/Nate Sexton, or Bill Nye the Disc Golf Guy!

[@joshuabarnett7128]

If only the guy had intuited the science of parting lines

[@erikfast3973]

BILL BILL BILL BILL BILL!!!

[@cable7152]

Bill Nye the Frisbee Guy