Golf Physics
As anyone who has played a round of golf will attest to, the sport is based around many fundamental principals of physics. These basic laws are involved with every aspect of the game from how a player swings the club to how the ball moves through the air on its way toward the pin. It is the challenge that physics presents to the golfer that has allowed the game, and equipment used, to develop so drastically over the past one hundred years. The great sport of golf was introduced to me by my dad over ten years ago. I spend hours weekly fighting the physics this sport, and it is this challenge that attracts me to the game. When deciding what to research for my YOYO project, only golf was what came to mind. The physics of this game are so vitally important to becoming a great golfer; only those that can defy the laws soundly are able to achieve greatness.Before delving into an elaborate discussion on the physics of golf, it is necessary to know just how far the little dimpled ball has come. The first golf balls used were called featheries. They were made with a horsehide cover packed with wet goose feathers. When the balls dried they became extremely hard. The major flaw with the featheries was that they could not be used when t
Torque: Torque is the term used to describe twist in a quantitative manner. Two factors, the amount of force applied and the distance over which it is applied determine torque. The size of the torque is found by multiplying the size of the force by the length of the lever arm, the lever arm being the shortest distance from the line along which the force acts to the axis about which the body may rotate. The force must be in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotation. nd remains still. During the stroke, successive parts of the whip are stopped, and the kinetic energy of these parts is fed into the successively smaller and smaller sections of the whip. The kinetic energy of a body depends on its mass and the square of its velocity according to the equation KE = 1/2 m v2. Therefore, at the start of the stroke, the total mass of the whip is moving with a moderate speed. Toward the end of the stroke, a much smaller mass must be moving at a much higher speed to have the same kinetic energy. This is shown to be true by the cracking of the whip, or the sonic shockwave sent out by the tip of the whip. "My List of Important Physics Terms" The following terms will be defined based on their relevance to the physics of golf: momentum, moment of inertia, torque, centripetal force, and centrifugal force. ed that it is better for the individual golfer to discover this for himself because not every swing is the same. Research has shown that a greater rate of spin increases drag, which makes the ball slow down more rapidly and thus decreases the distance it travels. A larger spin produces more lift, which keeps the ball in the air for a longer time and thus allows it to fly father. An experienced golfer knows that the force of lift will supersede the force of drag, however it is left up to the individual to find their own balance between these two forces. The physics surrounding a game of golf is not just based on the swing as described above. While 50% of the game of golf is the stroke used to hit the ball, the other 50% of the game is how the ball travels through the air toward the pin. Because the flight of the ball cannot be controlled with the same precision as can the swing, many developments have been made toward creating an ideal golf ball. Just looking back as few as 50 years we can see the tremendous effect physics has played on the design of the golf ball. First, it was discovered that worn golf balls tended to stay in the air longer because their uneven surface caused a greater spin as the ball passed through the air at a high velocity. Later it was determined that dimples on the golf ball serve the same purpose, and not only that, improve on the affect first observed by the wear and tear on the original golf balls. In the past 5 years, golf balls are being manufactured with three different sized dimples placed in s! l and the lane, the ball slows down, which allows the ball to begin rolling. After the ball has traveled some distance it no longer slides and just purely rolls.5 The same is true for the face of the golf club. As the collision occurs the ball begins to slide toward the top of the face of the club. However, because the friction force between the ball and clubface is so great it quickly begins to spin (roll) off the top of the club. This generates the tremendous amount of spin necessary to keep the ball a loft for drives at or above 230 yards. It is these three factors together that the quantity known as effective loft is derived from. The effective loft of any club is given as LE = L + a(i) - B(i) - Y. L is the loft of the club a(i) and B(i) are angles that are dependent upon each swing and each person performing the swing and Y is the back swing angle of the arm.5 From effective loft of the club, we can estimate the components of drag and lift on the golf ball. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As we can see through the material presented above, the golf
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Professor Tait, Frank Beard, Newton's Law, , Momentum Newton's, Harry Vardon, Physics Terms, Centrifugal Force, Torque Torque, Moment Inertia, golf ball, club head, golf club, kinetic energy, game golf, mass body, centripetal force, newton's law, hit ball, golf balls, club head ball, according newton's law, collision club head, mass body multiplied, shaft golf club,
Approximate Word count = 4276
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)
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