About The Project |
In this project, we were given the task to figure out the physics behind some action in any sport to help further improve players. To start off this project, my group and I brainstormed possible ideas for what we thought we might want to do. We decided on doing a soccer kick, because two of us played soccer, and we thought it would be a fun action to learn the physics of. Next we created a storyboard and a script for our video to help us get a clear idea of what our video would look like. Once we figured out what we were going to do, we went up to the soccer fields and started filming one of our team members kicking a soccer ball. Using a slow motion camera, we were able to capture the amount of time the foot was on the ball, the time the ball was in the air, and how far the soccer ball went. Using the distances and times we found, we started our calculations. First off, we found our horizontal velocity using the distance the ball traveled, 36 meters, divided by the time the ball was in the air, 1.8 seconds, giving us a horizontal velocity of 20m/s or 45 mph. For our last calculation, we used the formula
mass x velocity = force x time. Plugging in our horizontal velocity of the ball, 20 m/s, the weight of the ball, 0.44kg, and the time the foot was connected with the ball, 0.017 seconds, we found the force of the foot on the ball during a kick. The force of the foot on the ball was approximately 518 newtons or 115 pounds. After our calculations were complete, we started in our making our video. We edited in different clips of some professionals taking kicks, recorded voice overs, and put in some overlays of our calculations to finalize the video. Now if you already haven't, take a look at my video! |
Concepts
Horizontal Velocity - velocity that is always constant going in a horizontal direction. We found the horizontal velocity of the soccer ball.
Vertical Velocity - velocity downwards that falls at a constant rate of 9.8 m/s on the earth.
Total Velocity - the square root of horizontal velocity squared plus vertical velocity squared. You can find it by using a vector diagram with the vertical and horizontal velocity.
Force : a push or pull on an object. In this project we calculated the force of the foot on the ball.
Impulse : how long and how forcefully you push something.
Momentum : the tendency of moving objects to keep moving.
Vertical Velocity - velocity downwards that falls at a constant rate of 9.8 m/s on the earth.
Total Velocity - the square root of horizontal velocity squared plus vertical velocity squared. You can find it by using a vector diagram with the vertical and horizontal velocity.
Force : a push or pull on an object. In this project we calculated the force of the foot on the ball.
Impulse : how long and how forcefully you push something.
Momentum : the tendency of moving objects to keep moving.
Reflection
All in all, I think the end result of our project was very good and successful. However, I think during the project it was a little bit of a struggle for my group to collaborate. With only one computer, and four people, a few of us weren't really given the chance to even use the computer if we desired to do so. Although with that being said, those of us who weren't able to use the computer made it up by coming up with new ideas or solving the calculations. During this project, I learned that I am really big on working together as a group, and I can get annoyed very easily when someone does all the work instead of our group as a whole. Furthermore, I discovered how to use some editing apps, do voice overs, etc. Although, there are still plenty things I can continue to improve upon. My first thing I could have done better is my leadership, because in this project I would present ideas, but would just go with my other group members without even discussing mine. I feel I can be a great leader, I just have to start being one for myself and my group, by keeping people on track and presenting more ideas to my group. Another thing I can continue to get better at is staying on track.When we were in our last couple days of editing and only one person was able to use the laptop, I would get very sidetracked and talk about stuff non related to physics. With all of that being said, this project was very fun, and I think future classes will really enjoy it.