Physics of Sports Video:
Project Outline:
The objective of this project is to simulate a real-life experience (in this case, a sport) and prove our deep understanding of the physics behind the motions. With the Physics of Sports Video, we familiarized ourselves with the new concepts of velocity, vectors, torque, acceleration, and projectile motions. The criteria for this project include:
1. Time frame of 3-5 minutes
2. Complete script
3. Complete storyboard
4. Calculations
5. The actual film
Once our films have been edited, we will present them to the public at a Physics of Sports Film Festival. At the Film Fest, audience members have the chance to ask us questions about our films.
We started off our project by brainstorming different ideas within our group. The ideas ranged from the tennis serve to a water polo throw, but in the end, we decided to go with baseball. First, we wrote the script and sketched out a rough storyboard. This took around two days, before we went out and filmed one of our group mates, Peter Hunt, out on the softball field. It took us a couple tries to get the right pitch and the right home run, but when we did, we went on to take measurements and calculate. The calculations took a while. The concepts of velocity, projectile motion, etc. were really difficult and complex, and it took us a while to figure out what numbers to plug in. Real world situations are entirely different than textbook problems in the sense that they're so much more intricate. Finally, we recorded the audio for the video and pieced the entire project together on iMovie.
The objective of this project is to simulate a real-life experience (in this case, a sport) and prove our deep understanding of the physics behind the motions. With the Physics of Sports Video, we familiarized ourselves with the new concepts of velocity, vectors, torque, acceleration, and projectile motions. The criteria for this project include:
1. Time frame of 3-5 minutes
2. Complete script
3. Complete storyboard
4. Calculations
5. The actual film
Once our films have been edited, we will present them to the public at a Physics of Sports Film Festival. At the Film Fest, audience members have the chance to ask us questions about our films.
We started off our project by brainstorming different ideas within our group. The ideas ranged from the tennis serve to a water polo throw, but in the end, we decided to go with baseball. First, we wrote the script and sketched out a rough storyboard. This took around two days, before we went out and filmed one of our group mates, Peter Hunt, out on the softball field. It took us a couple tries to get the right pitch and the right home run, but when we did, we went on to take measurements and calculate. The calculations took a while. The concepts of velocity, projectile motion, etc. were really difficult and complex, and it took us a while to figure out what numbers to plug in. Real world situations are entirely different than textbook problems in the sense that they're so much more intricate. Finally, we recorded the audio for the video and pieced the entire project together on iMovie.
Physics Concepts:
Acceleration: Acceleration is the change in velocity over the change in time. We used acceleration to calculate vertical and horizontal velocity. We learned that the downward acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per second.
Velocity: Velocity is speed in a given direction, calculated by speed over time. This vector was one of our main focuses in this project. Using the formula d = 1/2at^2. As the projectile motion continues its flight, vertical velocity changes while the horizontal velocity remains constant.
Force: Like in our previous project, we calculated force, which is force x time. The force of Peter's swing was 6, 669 N.
Momentum: Momentum is mass x velocity. In our project, we calculated the momentum of Peter's baseball swing by taking the mass of the bat and multiplying this by his bat speed.
Impulse: Impulse is the amount of force on an object for a specific amount of time, resulting in the equation force x time. Impulse is equal to momentum.
Air resistance & Elasticity: Air resistance and elasticity are both factors that slow down the ball's ideal velocity. In a perfect world, the ideal speed of the ball would be much greater because no air would push it back. Also, in reality the hit is not a perfect 100% elastic collision. Because of this, the velocity is reduced significantly.
Reflection:
The physics of sports video was a great, fun, and interesting way to learn about the new physics concepts that we learned in class. I enjoyed working with my group and integrating physics into a real work project as opposed to simply taking notes in the classroom. Going out there and looking at the flight of the ball as the home run was hit, and taking hands-on measurements really helped me grasp the concepts in depth. It was extremely fun to go out and videotape peers and edit our films. Our group did a really great job of finishing calculations. The calculations were by far the most difficult, tedious task and I was really proud of how well our group pitched in to wrap those up accurately. As for new skills, I learned so much through this project. Among other things, I learned how to export videos from YouTube, how to work with iMovie, and like the previous project, how to collaborate with different people.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the change in velocity over the change in time. We used acceleration to calculate vertical and horizontal velocity. We learned that the downward acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per second.
Velocity: Velocity is speed in a given direction, calculated by speed over time. This vector was one of our main focuses in this project. Using the formula d = 1/2at^2. As the projectile motion continues its flight, vertical velocity changes while the horizontal velocity remains constant.
Force: Like in our previous project, we calculated force, which is force x time. The force of Peter's swing was 6, 669 N.
Momentum: Momentum is mass x velocity. In our project, we calculated the momentum of Peter's baseball swing by taking the mass of the bat and multiplying this by his bat speed.
Impulse: Impulse is the amount of force on an object for a specific amount of time, resulting in the equation force x time. Impulse is equal to momentum.
Air resistance & Elasticity: Air resistance and elasticity are both factors that slow down the ball's ideal velocity. In a perfect world, the ideal speed of the ball would be much greater because no air would push it back. Also, in reality the hit is not a perfect 100% elastic collision. Because of this, the velocity is reduced significantly.
Reflection:
The physics of sports video was a great, fun, and interesting way to learn about the new physics concepts that we learned in class. I enjoyed working with my group and integrating physics into a real work project as opposed to simply taking notes in the classroom. Going out there and looking at the flight of the ball as the home run was hit, and taking hands-on measurements really helped me grasp the concepts in depth. It was extremely fun to go out and videotape peers and edit our films. Our group did a really great job of finishing calculations. The calculations were by far the most difficult, tedious task and I was really proud of how well our group pitched in to wrap those up accurately. As for new skills, I learned so much through this project. Among other things, I learned how to export videos from YouTube, how to work with iMovie, and like the previous project, how to collaborate with different people.
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi