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Science of the Olympic Winter Games

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Science of the Olympic Winter Games

NBC Learn and NBC Sports, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, unravel the science, technology, engineering and math behind the Olympic Winter Games. For lesson plans provided by Lessonopoly, open the video and click on "Activity." If you are having trouble viewing the videos

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Science of the Olympic Winter Games

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Showing 1-16 of 16

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:00

Description :

Behind the breath-taking twists and turns of Olympic Freestyle Aerials is the science of angular momentum and moment of inertia. NSF-funded physicist Paul Doherty, Senior Scientist at The Exploratorium in San Francisco, and Olympic ae ...

Aerial Physics: Aerial Skiing

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:20

Description :

Ski-jumping--hurtling down a ramp at speeds of 60 mph, then soaring through the air--is an excellent illustration of the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag. NSF-funded scientists Paul Doherty, of The Exploratorium in San Francisco, ...

Air Lift: Ski Jump

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:06

Description :

NSF-funded scientists Paul Doherty, Deborah King, and George Tuthill, along with bobsled designer Bob Cuneo, use an Olympic bobsled run, from starting push to the finish line, to illustrate acceleration, velocity, gravity, and drag.

Banking On Speed: Bobsled

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:18

Description :

Short track speed skating, the fastest self-propelled sport in the Winter Games, illustrates all of Newton's First Three Laws of Motion: (1) An object at rest will remain at rest unless an unbalanced force acts on it; (2) a force acti ...

Blade Runners: Short Track Speed Skating

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:13

Description :

The chemistry and materials science used to create aerodynamic competition suits is described by NSF-funded scientists Melissa Hines of Cornell, Troy Flanagan of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, and U.S. Olympic speed skaters T ...

Competition Suits

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:03:59

Description :

A downhill ski race is a tour de force--emphasis on force: from the forceful push-off that accelerates the alpine skier down the slope, to the forces of gravity, friction and wind or air resistance. NSF-funded scientists Paul Doherty ...

Downhill Science: Alpine Skiing

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/09/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:38

Description :

How do Olympic figure skaters do triple axels and quadruple toe loops? It's all about angular momentum, vertical velocity, and conservation of angular momentum. NSF-funded sports scientist Deborah King, from the Department of Exercise ...

Figuring Out Figure Skating

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:15

Description :

From the formula used to figure figure-skating scores to the calculus used to figure instantaneous velocities in a speed-skating race, arithmetic and math are part of every Winter Olympic event and every move Olympic athletes make on ...

Mathletes

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:40

Description :

The Olympics are a chance to marvel at the physical abilities of the athletes. But what makes these athletes so unique from the rest of us? Dan Fletcher, an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley, exp ...

Olympic Motion

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:36

Description :

Most Winter Olympic sports are high-speed and dangerously high-impact, from ski-jumping to short track speed-skating to hockey. To protect their skulls and brains, athletes wear protective helmets. NSF-funded scientists Melissa Hines, ...

Safety Gear

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:59

Description :

Sending the 42-lb. granite curling stone down a long sheet of ice toward the center of a bull's-eye target is all about friction and surface physics, as NSF-funded scientists Sam Colbeck, formerly from the U.S. Army Cold Regions Lab, ...

Science Friction: Curling

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:19

Description :

The slapshot is the fastest, hardest shot in ice hockey--and an excellent illustration of elastic collisions, energy transfer and momentum exchange. NSF-funded scientists Thomas Humphrey of The Exploratorium in San Francisco, and Kath ...

Slapshot Physics: Hockey

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:54

Description :

Skates used by Olympic speed skaters, figure skaters and hockey players are custom-engineered by materials scientists so that the boots and blades meet the demands for each sport. NSF-funded scientists Melissa Hines, Director of the C ...

The Science of Skates

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:05:05

Description :

Skis used by Olympic Alpine and Nordic skiers are made of fiberglass and polymers, engineered by materials scientists to give skis used in different events the flexibility, stability and torsional rigidity required. NSF-funded scienti ...

The Science of Skis

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :

00:04:08

Description :

The physics behind the awesome, gasp-worthy tricks snowboarders do in the half-pipe? Gravity, friction, and energy (potential and kinetic), as explained by NSF-funded scientists Paul Doherty at The Exploratorium in San Francisco and D ...

The Science of Snowboarding

Source :

NBC Learn

Air Date :

12/08/2009

Clip Length :