A FUN General Education Course: Physics of Sports

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A FUN General Education Course Physics of Sports

• J. Eric Goff
• Lynchburg College

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My Background

• High School Physics or
  Baseball?

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and

• Graduate School at Indiana University
• Assisted John Carini in Physics of Sports
  (1998-1999)

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and

• Senior project at Kenyon College (1999-2000)
  Physics of a Pitched Baseball
• Long chat with David Griffing (Miami, OH) in
  summer 2000 at Kenyon.

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Physics of Sportsat Oberlin College

• Satisfied ½ of general education science
  requirement (one semester course).
• Prerequisite Algebra
• Student profile Nonscience major!
• Fall 2000 6 Students
• Fall 2001 24 Students (Not bad for Oberlin!)

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Textbooks

• The Dynamics of Sports by David F. Griffing
• The Physics of Baseball by Robert K. Adair

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Course Description

• Reading and homework assigned each week from
  Griffing and Adair.
• Focus mostly on mechanics.
• Many different sports discussed (baseball,
  basketball, football, soccer, swimming, tennis,
  sumo wrestling, hockey, weight lifting, cycling,
  boating, track field, skating, gymnastics,
  etc.)
• Lecture demonstrations a must!
• Sports videos almost every class.

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Assessment

• Homework (20)
• Two large midterm exams (45)
• Course participation (5)
• Bring in a video (5)
• No final!! Semester-long course project (25)

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Video Example

• 1982 Stanford-Cal Football Game

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Another example

• 1984 Doug Flutie Hail Mary Pass in Miami
• ? 62-yard pass, t ? 3s
• ?
  and

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Course Projects

• Coefficient of Restitution (Popular!)
  baseballs, basketballs, tennis balls,
  racquetballs, cricket balls ? vary surfaces,
  temperature, pressure
• What is best way to run a mile? (Student also
  analyzed the turns!)
• Coachs advice for hockey dribbling Practice
  with a golf ball on concrete. What is the
  physics?

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More

• What is horsepower for pushing a football sled?
• Physics of Tennis Rackets (sweet spot, etc.)
• What is the trajectory of a dart?
• Physics of Bicycles
• Analysis of Bowling

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Successes

• Students love demonstrations!
• Bringing in videos assist students in connecting
  the material to the sports world.
• Physics of Sports became the subject of two
  newspaper articles
• Not Just Bio 101 Crains Cleveland
  Business
  (10/15/01)
• Famous Flutie Pass Now In Its Own Class
  Boston College Chronicle (11/01/01)

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Future Goals

• Teach Physics of Sports at Lynchburg College
• Continue Physics of Sports Projects with Students
  (freshman to senior physics majors)
• Write a Physics of Sports Textbook
  (Wait for tenure!!)