Physics of Wipeout (final)

Content:

Velcoity horizontal: horizontal velocity is horizontal displacement divided by time, such as miles per hour or meters per second. Displacement is simply the distance an object has traveled from a starting point. For this project we found the horzitonal velocity of the Eliza moving through the obstacle from each ball to the next. Due to her stopping after jumping from each one to the next, her horizontal velocity goes back down to zero after each one.

Velocity Vertical: Vertical velocity refers to the speed of an object's movement in a vertical direction. Again due to Eliza jumping up and then down from each part of the obstacle to the next, her veritcal velocity drops down to zero after each jump.

Accleration horizontal: the rate of increase in speed of an object in the horizontal motion. We calculated Eliza's horizontal acceleration, which increases until the second ball, decreases to the third, and then increases again to the forth.

Accleration vertical: vertical acceleration caused by gravity; its value is 9.8 m/s/s, down, The vertical velocity of a projectile changes by 9.8 m/s each second, The horizontal motion of a projectile is independent of its vertical motion. While Eliza's vertical accleration is only due to gravity, we did not have to calculate for this. If Eliza had not made it accross to the end of the obstacle, we would have calculate for her acceleration falling.

Momentum: linear momentum, translational momentum, or simply momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. For this project we were unable to calculate for momentum due to the fact we were unable to determine many factors needed to find the momentum. Such as the mass of the ball, the velocity of the ball after Eliza lands on it, and the velocity of the ball and Eliza after the collision.

Inelastic collision: a collision in which the total kinetic energy of the colliding bodies or particles is not the same after the collision as it was before. We were able to determine that Eliza's collision in this obstacle was inelastic because Eliza didn't fall off after she landed on the ball.

Energy: energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear, or other various forms. For this project we determined her different types of energy throughout the obstacle.

Energy conservation: In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant; it is said to be conserved over time. We calculcated the different types of energy to show that as Eliza moves through the obstacle, her energy is not conserved.

Kinetic Energy: In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. As Eliza moves through the obstacle she has kinetic energy. Although the kinetic energy while she is on the ball is very small, we did not include kinetic energy in the calculations for the point of Eliza on the ball.

Potential Energy due to gravity: Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position or height. The energy is stored as the result of the gravitational attraction of the Earth for the object. For this porject, we calculated for the potential energy from gravity at each different points within the obstacle system.

Force: In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. We wanted to include the forces of Eliza on each part of the obstacle for this project.

Friction: Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. We also made sure to be aware that the force of friction from the ball onto Eliza and Eliza onto the ball, would be very small due to the fact that the metertial is slippery and made for less friction.

Horizontal Force: A force applied in a direction parallel to the horizon is known as horizontal force. To find the total force of Eliza we first calculated for the horizontal force to use the pythagorean theorum to find the total force of Eliza moving towards the ball.

Vertical Force: We think of vertical force as forces that act in the vertical plane, which is perpendicular to the ground. Second, we calculated for the vertical force to use the pythagorean theorum to find the total force of Eliza moving towards the ball.

Newton's Laws: In the first law, an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it. In the second law, the force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. In the third law, when two objects interact, they apply forces to each other of equal magnitude and opposite direction. We used our knowledge of Newton's laws and forces to find many of the forces within the system during this project.

Height: the distance off the ground that the contestant starts at. We calculated this using many screenshots and comparisons to get a good estimate of how high the obstacles were and the starting platforms.

Wipeout: In this reality competition, contestants try to navigate an extreme obstacle course that has been designed to provoke an unprecedented number of crashes, face plants and wipeouts, with one competitor taking home a $50,000 prize each week. Our topic for the entire final project, we wanted to use a fun topic and find all the different aspects of physics that go into it.