fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Unlike most racket sports, badminton uses a projectile that is nothing like a sphere. The unusual shape of the shuttlecock not only creates substantial drag in comparison to a ball but increases the complexity of its flight path. The heavy head of the shuttlecock creates a moment that stabilizes its flight, ensuring that the head always points in the direction of travel. The skirt, traditionally made of feathers though many today are plastic, is responsible for the aerodynamic forces that make the shuttlecock’s behavior so interesting. Measuring the drag coefficient of the shuttlecock, modeling its trajectory and behavior in the four common badminton shots, and even attempting computational fluid dynamics of the shuttlecock are all on-going research problems in sports engineering. (Photo credit: Rob Bulmahn) FYFD is celebrating the Olympics with the fluid dynamics of sports. Check out our previous posts on how the Olympic torch works, what makes a pool fast, and the aerodynamics of archery. Things I didn’t think I’d see this Olympics season: Fluid dynamic analysis of a shuttlecock. Things I’m glad I saw this Olympics season: See above
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fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Unlike most racket sports, badminton uses a projectile that is nothing like a sphere. The unusual shape of the shuttlecock not only creates substantial drag in comparison to a ball but increases the complexity of its flight path. The heavy head of the shuttlecock creates a moment that stabilizes its flight, ensuring that the head always points in the direction of travel. The skirt, traditionally made of feathers though many today are plastic, is responsible for the aerodynamic forces that make the shuttlecock’s behavior so interesting. Measuring the drag coefficient of the shuttlecock, modeling its trajectory and behavior in the four common badminton shots, and even attempting computational fluid dynamics of the shuttlecock are all on-going research problems in sports engineering. (Photo credit: Rob Bulmahn) FYFD is celebrating the Olympics with the fluid dynamics of sports. Check out our previous posts on how the Olympic torch works, what makes a pool fast, and the aerodynamics of archery. Things I didn’t think I’d see this Olympics season: Fluid dynamic analysis of a shuttlecock. Things I’m glad I saw this Olympics season: See above
Zoom Info
fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Unlike most racket sports, badminton uses a projectile that is nothing like a sphere. The unusual shape of the shuttlecock not only creates substantial drag in comparison to a ball but increases the complexity of its flight path. The heavy head of the shuttlecock creates a moment that stabilizes its flight, ensuring that the head always points in the direction of travel. The skirt, traditionally made of feathers though many today are plastic, is responsible for the aerodynamic forces that make the shuttlecock’s behavior so interesting. Measuring the drag coefficient of the shuttlecock, modeling its trajectory and behavior in the four common badminton shots, and even attempting computational fluid dynamics of the shuttlecock are all on-going research problems in sports engineering. (Photo credit: Rob Bulmahn) FYFD is celebrating the Olympics with the fluid dynamics of sports. Check out our previous posts on how the Olympic torch works, what makes a pool fast, and the aerodynamics of archery. Things I didn’t think I’d see this Olympics season: Fluid dynamic analysis of a shuttlecock. Things I’m glad I saw this Olympics season: See above
Zoom Info

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Unlike most racket sports, badminton uses a projectile that is nothing like a sphere. The unusual shape of the shuttlecock not only creates substantial drag in comparison to a ball but increases the complexity of its flight path. The heavy head of the shuttlecock creates a moment that stabilizes its flight, ensuring that the head always points in the direction of travel. The skirt, traditionally made of feathers though many today are plastic, is responsible for the aerodynamic forces that make the shuttlecock’s behavior so interesting.

Measuring the drag coefficient of the shuttlecock, modeling its trajectory and behavior in the four common badminton shots, and even attempting computational fluid dynamics of the shuttlecock are all on-going research problems in sports engineering. (Photo credit: Rob Bulmahn)

FYFD is celebrating the Olympics with the fluid dynamics of sports. Check out our previous posts on how the Olympic torch works, what makes a pool fast, and the aerodynamics of archery.

Things I didn’t think I’d see this Olympics season: Fluid dynamic analysis of a shuttlecock.

Things I’m glad I saw this Olympics season: See above

(via kateoplis)

Source: Flickr / rbulmahn

One One-Hundredth of a Second Faster: Building Better Olympic Athletes Using Science

After a century of whirlwind progress in sports science and hi-tech training, the curve is flattening out. Records are broken by hundredths of seconds, mere inches, and incremental progress.

Are we close to reaching the limits of human athletic potential? Wired takes a look at how we arrived at today’s superhuman sports science:

For elite athletes, traditional training is no longer enough. To go from great to the best in the world, it’s now essential to optimize every bit of performance, even if the gain is just a hundredth of a second. So in addition to relying on their coaches and teammates, they work with biomechanists, physiologists, psychologists, nutritionists, strength coaches, recovery experts, and statistical analysts. Rather than just eating their Wheaties like Bruce Jenner, they guzzle beet juice before a workout, because their team of nutritionists has determined that the nitrates it contains can improve aerobic exercise performance by as much as 2 percent. They don’t just rub Bengay on tired muscles, they follow elaborate hydrotherapy regimens to limit muscle damage and reduce soreness by 16 percent. And instead of pounding out hour after hour of training, they sometimes do a targeted workout of insanely high intensity, approved by their physiologists, which can give them better results in as little as four minutes.


Previously: Will we ever run the 100-meter sprint in 9 seconds?

Will we ever run the 100 meter sprint in 9 seconds? The Olympics are just around the corner. With 43 world records set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, what’s in store for London? The 100 meter sprint has long been thought of as a test of the very limits of the human body. Are we as fast as we’ll ever be? Ed Yong analyzes the biomechanics of the fastest human sprinters: Put simply, fast people hit the ground more forcefully than slow people, relative to their body weight. But we know very little about what contributes to that force, and we are terrible at predicting it based on a runner’s physique or movements. We know that champion male sprinters can hit the ground with a force that’s around 2.5 times their body weight (most people manage around two times). When Usain Bolt’s foot lands, it applies around 900 pounds (400kg) of force for a few milliseconds, and continues pushing for around 90 more. Check out the link above for more, including how we differ from cheetahs, and whether there’s hope for a new record. (↬ Not Exactly Rocket Science)
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Will we ever run the 100 meter sprint in 9 seconds?

The Olympics are just around the corner. With 43 world records set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, what’s in store for London?

The 100 meter sprint has long been thought of as a test of the very limits of the human body. Are we as fast as we’ll ever be? Ed Yong analyzes the biomechanics of the fastest human sprinters:

Put simply, fast people hit the ground more forcefully than slow people, relative to their body weight. But we know very little about what contributes to that force, and we are terrible at predicting it based on a runner’s physique or movements.

We know that champion male sprinters can hit the ground with a force that’s around 2.5 times their body weight (most people manage around two times). When Usain Bolt’s foot lands, it applies around 900 pounds (400kg) of force for a few milliseconds, and continues pushing for around 90 more.

Check out the link above for more, including how we differ from cheetahs, and whether there’s hope for a new record.

(↬ Not Exactly Rocket Science)

Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com