The Objective
For the Physics of a Sport project each group picks an action in a sport and finds a way to improve it. In my group of Shasta Parker, Jared Franklin, and Simon Swetland we chose to do a hockey slap shot. A slap shot in hockey is when you raise the stick off the ice and then bring it down slapping the puck and making it move. We chose to do a slap shot because it was different. No one else (that I know of) in the STEM program plays hockey.
For the Physics of a Sport project each group picks an action in a sport and finds a way to improve it. In my group of Shasta Parker, Jared Franklin, and Simon Swetland we chose to do a hockey slap shot. A slap shot in hockey is when you raise the stick off the ice and then bring it down slapping the puck and making it move. We chose to do a slap shot because it was different. No one else (that I know of) in the STEM program plays hockey.
Physics of a Sport Video concepts
Reflection
I learned a lot in this project, from the equations to how a hockey stick actually works. The different equations that Mr. Williams taught us really helped us to find a way to improve the slap shot. Every hockey stick has a flex anywhere from 30 to over 100 but i never knew what that meant until I did this project. The flex of a stick is the amount of weight needed to move the stick one inch. You can measure the flex by putting the stick on two supports and put a hook on the middle of the stick. Then you just add weight until the middle of the stick is moved down one inch. I also learned about the different kick points in a stick, like if you have a mid-kick stick it is better for slap shots and a low-kick stick is better for wrist shots and snap shots.
- Force- A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another object. We used the equation mv=ft to find the force of the hockey stick on the puck. We used the mass of the puck, the velocity of the puck, the time the stick hits the puck, and we solved for f (force) to get 224 newtons. We then had to convert that into about 50 pounds of force. this force is a fraction of what it would be on the ice since there is less friction on the puck and the stick. it is also easier to shoot when you have skates on.
- Velocity- the speed of something in a given direction. We used the equation v=d/t. We plugged in the time the puck was in in the air and the distance the puck traveled. We got a velocity of 26 m/s, then we converted it to 58 miles per hour.
- Vertical Velocity- the rate an object travels up or down. We found our vertical velocity with the equation vertical velocity=(9.8 m/s)(time). When we plugged in how long the puck was in the air to the equation we got 3.43 m/s.
- Gravity- a force which tries to pull two objects toward each other. Gravity has a pull of 9.8 m/s which is very important with velocity because it greatly affects how fast and how far the object goes.
- Flex- the amount of weight needed to move the stick one inch.
- Mid-kick stick- a mid-kick stick is better for slap shots because it needs more force to flex and releases the power quicker.
- Low-kick stick- the newer kind of stick, better for wrist shots and snap shots because it takes less power to fully load up and is usually more flexible than a mid-kick stick.
Reflection
I learned a lot in this project, from the equations to how a hockey stick actually works. The different equations that Mr. Williams taught us really helped us to find a way to improve the slap shot. Every hockey stick has a flex anywhere from 30 to over 100 but i never knew what that meant until I did this project. The flex of a stick is the amount of weight needed to move the stick one inch. You can measure the flex by putting the stick on two supports and put a hook on the middle of the stick. Then you just add weight until the middle of the stick is moved down one inch. I also learned about the different kick points in a stick, like if you have a mid-kick stick it is better for slap shots and a low-kick stick is better for wrist shots and snap shots.