Newton's Laws and the Winter Olympics: Part 2
Today, we get to discuss Newton’s Second Law of Motion in the Olympics! For Newton’s First Law and the Olympics, see my last post. Even though the Olympics is over for the year, it’s still fun to think about how Isaac Newton was able to describe and predict how the sports work.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion is often summarized with the equation F=ma, where F is force, m is mass, and a is acceleration. In words, the law tells us that there is a direct relationship between force and acceleration and an indirect relationship between mass and acceleration. In other words, the harder you push something, the more it will accelerate. If something is bigger, it will take more force to accelerate the same amount. The same push will help a smaller object accelerate more than a bigger object.
The words can be confusing, but a lot of Newton’s Second Law feels intuitive. It fits what we experience every day. It’s a lot easier to push a chair across the floor than a couch, because as mass increases, more force is necessary for acceleration. If you kick a soccer ball, it will go a lot less far than a bowling ball, because as mass increases, there will be less acceleration.
There are so many examples of Newton’s Second Law of Motion in the Winter Olympics. Here are some fun ones:
Ice Hockey: A puck has a pretty small mass and that won’t change, so hitting a puck only concerns force and acceleration. The harder a player hits a puck, the more it will accelerate, and vice versa.
Curling: Even though I don’t really understand curling, it’s a great example for all three of Newton’s Laws, because there are fewer things happening at one time. Push a curling stone harder, it will go farther.
Bobsled: This one is fun. If the bobsled and its riders are heavier, it will take more force to accelerate it. But! Acceleration refers to any change in motion, including slowing down, so once a heavier bobsled is moving fast, it’s less likely to be slowed down by friction! Anyone who’s ever played MarioKart knows that the bigger characters are slower to speed up (less acceleration), but can maintain their speed over obstacles better (less acceleration).
When have you seen Newton’s Second Law of Motion this week?