[ELI5] Why do basketballs spark (or appear to) when they burst?

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I see in videos of exploding basketballs that have been pumped too much that at the point of impact/explosion they spark for a millisecond. Why?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It could be a number of things really. The most likely is editing. Yeah, people edit stuff. It could be someone placed a flint in the fill hole for the effect. It could be a piece of stone that got kicked up, or it could be the friction of the chords ripping apart. I honestly don’t believe anything unless I see it myself in person, and even then I’m wary.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Are you talking about a cloud of condensation, it’s water vapor a mini cloud briefly forms as the pressure wave expands basketball example https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRIrixQHvg same can be seen on plane wingtips https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingtip_vortices or bomb explosions and the effect is more visible in high humidity or cool air

Anonymous 0 Comments

aren’t basketballs wrapped with a synthetic thread all around between the bladder and the upper rubber.the extreme pressure going of might cause them to light up briefly