The arena of sport is filled with marvelous performances and feats that, at times, seem almost beyond belief. As curious onlookers, we often wonder whether or not athletes will reach certain peaks and what determines their limits of athletic performance. Science, with its emphasis on theoretical development and experimental results, is uniquely equipped to answer these kinds of questions. Over the past two decades, I have been asked innumerable questions related to how science can provide these kinds of insights. Science in the Arena is written as an outgrowth of those interactions with the primary goal of communicating useful and understandable scientific explanations of athletic performance.
Author(s): Blane Baker
Series: IOP Concise Physics
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 60
City: Bristol
PRELIMS.pdf
Preface
Acknowledgements
Author biography
CH001.pdf
Chapter 1 Introduction and 1-D and 2-D motion
What is science?
1-D motion
Average speed and types of motion
How many paths for the runner?
2-D projectile motion and trajectories of baseballs
CH002.pdf
Chapter 2 Energy and conservation
Work and kinetic and potential energy
Conservation of energy
Energy conservation in pole vaulting
Stored energy, energy for activities, and calories
Energy rates and power
Kinetic energy, collisions, and protective gear
CH003.pdf
Chapter 3 What did Newton say about force?
Force and Newton(s)
All that friction
Centripetal force
Centripetal forces in sport
What a drag
CH004.pdf
Chapter 4 Momentum, collisions, and sweet spot
Sweet spot
Conservation of linear momentum
Conservation of momentum—it’s the law
CH005.pdf
Chapter 5 All that spin: angular motions and angular momentum
Angular speed
Angular acceleration—all that change in angular velocity
Triple axel
Rotation and conservation of angular momentum
CH006.pdf
Chapter 6 Effects of fluids in sport
Buoyancy
The curveball and a bender in soccer
The knuckleball
Tom Brady and Deflategate
CH007.pdf
Chapter 7 Wave action
Wave action
Hear the stadium roar
Red, green, yellow, or blue?
CH008.pdf
Chapter 8 Doping in sport
Performance enhancement in baseball
Not your grandparents’ football
CH009.pdf
Chapter 9 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussions, and knee injuries
CTE
Iron Mike
Torn ligaments
CH010.pdf
Chapter 10 Special topics
Need for speed
Extreme, extreme sports
References
