2. What exactly is curling?
What’s the objective of Curling?
That is a very good question.
Okay first, we should get a bit of the terminology down. The playing
surface in curling is called "the sheet."• sheet measurements can
The
be different, but they're usually around 150 feet long by 15 feet
wide. The sheet is covered with tiny droplets of water that become
ice and cause the stones to "curl,"• move away from a straight
or
path. These water droplets are known as "pebble."•
At each end there's a target that looks like a big bullseye. These
targets are known as "the houses."• center of the house is known
The
as the "button."•
Basically, the object of the game is to get your
stones closer to the button than the other team gets theirs.
3. What exactly is curling?
What’s with the sweeping?
Well, remember how there’s the those ice droplets on the sheet
(pebbles) that the rock has to travel upon? When the stone
touches the pebble, there’s friction, which in this case can slow
down the rock and can cause it to deviate from its straight
path to the center (house).
The sweeping actually helps fight the problem. The sweeping
motion makes the temperature go up by a degree or 2. This
reduces the friction between the pebble and the stone and
keeps it moving in a straight line.
4. What exactly is curling?
Here’s a recent example! Women’s curling final,
Canada vs. Sweden. This was in Sochi 2014 Winter
Olympics. Canada brought home the gold with a
score of 6-3!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNicW2nhvYQ
Watch if you want to know what it’s like
5. Let’s get down to business now!
Now, we’re not here to talk about curling day now
are we? No! We’re here to learn about the physics
that are applied to this awesome sport.
I will be answering the following questions: How do
the laws of physics apply to this sport, How do the
Olympic athletes use their knowledge of physics to
help them to be best in their sport, and are the
athletes trying to maximize certain factors to
improve their performance.
7. The Friction
Friction plays a huge roll when it comes to the sport of curling. There friction
with the members on the curling
team. When they are pushing the rock (which is
a force applied by the way), the members are
sliding down the sheet but they are able to slide
on the ice because the ice a limited friction.
Let’s say they were on a surface with much
more friction, like land, it really wouldn’t be easy
for them to slide. Another way friction is created
is by the sweepers! They might not seem like
they play a large part, but in fact they do! The sweepers can either create
or reduce friction on the ice to make the stone go a longer or shorter
distance. The stones are actually sliding on a layer of water, so therefore
the thicker the layer of water, the less amount of friction.
8. Normal Force and Gravitational Force
The normal and the
gravity force are
acted upon the rock.
Those forces help each other and cancel
each other out.
Fn
The normal force is the support force
exerted upon an object that is in contact
with another stable object. So the rock is
sitting on the ice, the surface is exerting a
force upwards upon the rock, in order
to support the rock.
The gravity force is upon the earth`s
experience that is directed downward
towards the center of the earth. So the rock
has a natural gravitational force directed
downwards.
Fg
9. Newton’s First Law
The rock usually stays put and doesn’t move, although the
thrower has the power to push the rock and
apply the force.
This force
pushes the rock
down the sheet
of ice. It will
continue to
slide until
another force
is acted upon it,
like it hitting
another rock in
the bullseye.
10. Newton’s Third Law
This Law plays a huge part in the game of curling.
The thrower pushes off of this little piece sticking up
to push yourself. As the thrower is pushing off, the
piece is pushing on him propelling him forward. The
throwers force, as he slides, is acting on the rock and
pushing the rock with an equal force.
11. Conclusion
So as you can see, curling involves physics, along with other
sports. These physics can improve your game, so if you learn
the sciences behind it, it helps! You can use your brand new
knowledge of inertia, to help choose the type of rock that will
be best suited for your thrower and your style of play. Your
new frictional wisdom can help you know when to sweep,
either to keep your stone going, or slow it down. You can use
Newton's Third Law to improve how you push yourself along
the ice. If you can combine your knowledge of friction, inertia,
and Newton's Laws, then your curling game will be much
improved.
12. Thank you! :)
Hope you learned some new stuff and enjoyed it!
(I know
it’s
Vancouver
2010
poster but
it’s okay)
