Sunday, February 21, 2010

Torque on ice

Gunn High School physics teacher (and President of the NCNAAPT), Claudia Winkler, likes this "Physics at the Olympics"... moment!

Take a look:

2 comments:

Stevie (Conservation of Momentum) Ray said...

I didn't realize Apolo Ohno was so massive! It even looks like the ice is moving FASTER backwards than he is moving forward.
I get the part about the ice breaking away from the wall - but isn't there an ice-floor interface too?
I always have trouble whilst attempting to engage my WSD (Willful Suspension of Disbelief) - it's a Physics-Type curse I surmise.

j gates said...

I'll go you one better - it doesn't matter how massive he is! At the end, the ice is rotating down (via RHR), whereas he was rotating up before. All of that's OK, except for the fact that his angular speed is ZERO at the end, so the angular momentum vector switched directions!