Description
Book SynopsisThere is a large and growing number of excellent books on physics and sports. While these books are well written, educational, and often entertaining, they are simply not textbooks. Physics concepts such as: force, velocity, and torque, come into the discussion. Interesting facts are given, and occasionally a formula is applied. However, the focus is typically on conveying interesting physics related facts about a particular sport, rather than developing a general appreciation and facility for scientific reasoning. The Physics of Sports is intended as a textbook for a 1 semester or a 1-2 quarter undergraduate course, for students - not necessarily intending to major in Physical Science, Engineering, or a related field. With this course, it is hoped that a student's natural interest in athletics and the direct relevance to concrete material will bridge the gap for students, turned off by the seemingly abstract stuff covered in many undergraduate physics courses. The discussion being
Table of Contents
Primary Chapters
1) Warm-up: Basic concepts
2) Racing, Mathematically
3) Net Force: Dwight Howard illustrates
4) Punts, the Fosbury Flop, and Other Projectile Motions
5) Curveballs, Foul Shots, and Bent Kicks
6) Game Changers: Collisions in Sports
7) Energy in Sports: Bursts of Power
8) Energy and Timing in Elastic Equipment
9) The Physics of Cycling
10) Twisting Athletes in Flight
Supplementary Chapters
11) Lines of Action on the Line of Scrimmage: The Torque Wars
12) A Barry Bonds Home Run
13) The Pole Vault
14) Is It Better to Run through First Base or to Dive?
A - Unit Conversions
B - Tables of Relevant Physical Properties
Further Reading
Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems
