For this project, the objective was to contribute in some way to San Marin athletes. The specific question was, "How can we improve our understanding of and performance in sports by applying physics?" So we just needed to give some advice to San Marin students on how they can improve their sports techniques We chose to make our video about a proper shoulder bump. We went over the physics of the action, to help with the understanding. Then we showed an improper shoulder bump, and explained why it was unsuccessful.
Physics Concepts
Velocity- One of our major concepts in this video was horizontal velocity. It is found by plugging numbers into this equation: v=d/t, or velocity equals change in distance divided by change in time. This is separate from vertical velocity, because it is up and down. We took the velocities of each of us before we collided in the video.
Mass- Mass is not to be confused with weight, because they have one big difference. Here on earth, mass can just be taken as a weight. But if you were in a zero gravity environment, you would have no weight, but your mass would still exist. We measured the mass of Jake, Ryan and I.
Force of Impact- The equation for the force of an impact is mv=Ft, or mass times velocity equals force times time. This is the same as momentum equals impulse. We used this equation to find the force of both collisions showed in the video.
For other physics concepts, check out my Rube Goldberg page.
Mass- Mass is not to be confused with weight, because they have one big difference. Here on earth, mass can just be taken as a weight. But if you were in a zero gravity environment, you would have no weight, but your mass would still exist. We measured the mass of Jake, Ryan and I.
Force of Impact- The equation for the force of an impact is mv=Ft, or mass times velocity equals force times time. This is the same as momentum equals impulse. We used this equation to find the force of both collisions showed in the video.
For other physics concepts, check out my Rube Goldberg page.
Reflection
One of the hardest parts of this project for me was staying on task while working. Part of this was because only one person could really edit the video at a time, so it was easy for me to feel like I had nothing to contibute at the time, but this was not really true. There was always another voiceover to be recorded or another calculation to be solved. This was something that I struggled with during the project. Another thing that I think we had some trouble with had a similar cause to that of out other problem; dividing the work load equally. Again, unequal work load could easily surface due to the individual editing work. Because someone in my group was really good at editing, he did most of it, and the rest of us did all of the voiceovers and calculations. It would have been easy for two of us to just sit back and relax while the others did all of the work, but that would not be fair. So we tried as best we could to give everyone similar amounts of work. These were the two main things that I struggled with during the creation of the video.
One thing that I think I improved on since the Rube Goldberg machines is staying positive. I did this by not making discouraging comments or blaming people for things. My whole group did this fairly well, and it helped us keep working together smoothly. There is definitely still room for improvement, and it is something that I have chosen to work on throughout the duration of the year. Also, my group worked really well together, all of our talents complimented each other. Together we had really good editing skills, good voiceovers, and good calculations. This helped us excel in the making of the video.
One thing that I think I improved on since the Rube Goldberg machines is staying positive. I did this by not making discouraging comments or blaming people for things. My whole group did this fairly well, and it helped us keep working together smoothly. There is definitely still room for improvement, and it is something that I have chosen to work on throughout the duration of the year. Also, my group worked really well together, all of our talents complimented each other. Together we had really good editing skills, good voiceovers, and good calculations. This helped us excel in the making of the video.