This equation computes the displacement of an object in flight due to the Magnus force on a spinning object (such as a football, baseball, or soccer ball).
The effect of the Magnus force is commonly observed when a spinning ball (or cylinder) curves away from its flight trajectory. It is important in its use with sports balls to effect a curve over the course of the ball's flight and it must be considered in the trajectory of a spinning missile.1
For a typical curve ball thrown by a professional baseball player, we might use the following as inputs:
and for this baseball curve example the deflection distance will be approximately d = 0.57 m2