Project Summary: In this
project, Mr. Williams tasked us with making a video where we chose a sport and
used physics to explain how to improve in said sport. This project used many
physics concepts from our previous project, the Rube Goldberg Project, in
addition to one very important new principle. This principle was velocity
vectors, and we used to determine that the velocity on a kick taken at a 35-degree
angle with a force of 170N. We found the vertical velocity would be 11.47 m/s
and the horizontal velocity would be 16.3 m/s. By putting these measurements
into a diagram of a triangle, we could use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the total
velocity, which was 19.93 m/s. Our group was lucky enough to have
someone who knows calculus and our calculations really stood out because of
this.
This was a very easy project on paper and an easy project to complete. Unfortunately, it was actually incredibly difficult in terms of work distribution. Two people did most of the work, leaving two smart individuals with nothing to do. This overall was a good problem though because it brought up a problem opposite to the previous project, the Rube Goldberg machine. In that project, we gave everyone two much work and it was a struggle to finish on time. Another big problem in the beginning was the style of the movie. At first, we were making an interesting movie with a plot that we ended up completing, and then we were informed that it needed to have the focus be on the science. In the end, we created a new movie with the old video that was much better then the previous for this specific audience. Below, you may see the old video.