For my physics of sports video, my group and I chose to do a tennis serve. The people in my group were Sally Jung, Ben DeFilippis, and Camille Obert. In our video, we went through the steps of a tennis serve and made many physics calculations along the way. A goal other than to find the physics calculations, was to help improve people's tennis serve. This is also mentioned in the video.
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the stored energy in an object (it has the potential to become kinetic). To find potential energy, we used the equation of potential energy=mass x acceleration of gravity x height (PE=mgh). We used this equation when we calculated the potential energy of the ball when it is tossed in a tennis serve. The unit for potential energy is Joules (J).
Momentum: Momentum is the tendency of an object to continue moving. The equation for momentum is momentum = mass x velocity
(momentum=m x v). The unit for momentum is kgm/s. We took momentum into account in the knee bend of the tennis serve.
Velocity: Velocity is how fast an object is going along with the direction it is moving. The equation for velocity is velocity = the change in distance/the change in time (v=△d/△t). The unit for velocity is m/s. We used velocity to help calculate the force of the racket hitting the ball in the serve.
Velocity Horizontal- The horizontal component of velocity used in finding the total velocity of an object that's flying through the air.
Velocity Vertical- The vertical component of velocity used in finding the total velocity of an object that's flying through the air.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. The equation for acceleration is acceleration = the change in velocity/the change in time
(a=△v/△t). The unit for acceleration is m/s^2. We calculated the acceleration of the racket in the tennis serve.
Impulse: Impulse is the force that you are exerting on and object and how long you are exerting it for. The equation for impulse is impulse = force x time
(impulse=f x t). The unit for impulse is Ns. We used impulse to help calculate the force of the racket on the ball in the tennis serve.
Force: Force is the push or pull exerted on an object. To find force, we used the equation mass x velocity = force x time (m x v=f x t). The unit for force is Newtons (N). We calculated the force when the racket contacts the ball in a tennis serve.
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the stored energy in an object (it has the potential to become kinetic). To find potential energy, we used the equation of potential energy=mass x acceleration of gravity x height (PE=mgh). We used this equation when we calculated the potential energy of the ball when it is tossed in a tennis serve. The unit for potential energy is Joules (J).
Momentum: Momentum is the tendency of an object to continue moving. The equation for momentum is momentum = mass x velocity
(momentum=m x v). The unit for momentum is kgm/s. We took momentum into account in the knee bend of the tennis serve.
Velocity: Velocity is how fast an object is going along with the direction it is moving. The equation for velocity is velocity = the change in distance/the change in time (v=△d/△t). The unit for velocity is m/s. We used velocity to help calculate the force of the racket hitting the ball in the serve.
Velocity Horizontal- The horizontal component of velocity used in finding the total velocity of an object that's flying through the air.
Velocity Vertical- The vertical component of velocity used in finding the total velocity of an object that's flying through the air.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. The equation for acceleration is acceleration = the change in velocity/the change in time
(a=△v/△t). The unit for acceleration is m/s^2. We calculated the acceleration of the racket in the tennis serve.
Impulse: Impulse is the force that you are exerting on and object and how long you are exerting it for. The equation for impulse is impulse = force x time
(impulse=f x t). The unit for impulse is Ns. We used impulse to help calculate the force of the racket on the ball in the tennis serve.
Force: Force is the push or pull exerted on an object. To find force, we used the equation mass x velocity = force x time (m x v=f x t). The unit for force is Newtons (N). We calculated the force when the racket contacts the ball in a tennis serve.
Throughout the process of making our project, there were a few pits and peaks. Two pits of my project were not knowing how to do things on the computer and trying to have my whole group work on one computer at once. Two peaks of my project were learning how to use movie applications and realizing how many physics concepts are involved in a tennis serve.
The first pit of my project was not knowing how to do some things on the computer. We could have avoided this and done it better if we had researched and looked into some information beforehand. For example, at one point we couldn't figure out how to make a rectangle appear on the screen in the video, it took a while and slowed us down a little but eventually we figured it out. The second pit of my project was trying to be able to have everyone be working on the computer at once. At one point in the process, only two of the people in my group were working on the project because not everyone could be behind the computer at the same time. To solve this, we had the other two people work on the calculations and the script.
The first peak of my project was learning how to use movie making application. An example of this was when we had to explore applications in order to problem solve and figure out how to add things to our video. The second peak of my project was learning and realizing how many physics concepts are actually in a tennis serve. For example, there is some kind of physics calculation you can do for every little step of a tennis serve as well as any other sports action.
Something that I think we did well in our project was that we got really good video footage and pictures. Something that I think we could've done better was speak clearer and louder in our video. This project has been a great experience and I have learned a lot because of it.
The first pit of my project was not knowing how to do some things on the computer. We could have avoided this and done it better if we had researched and looked into some information beforehand. For example, at one point we couldn't figure out how to make a rectangle appear on the screen in the video, it took a while and slowed us down a little but eventually we figured it out. The second pit of my project was trying to be able to have everyone be working on the computer at once. At one point in the process, only two of the people in my group were working on the project because not everyone could be behind the computer at the same time. To solve this, we had the other two people work on the calculations and the script.
The first peak of my project was learning how to use movie making application. An example of this was when we had to explore applications in order to problem solve and figure out how to add things to our video. The second peak of my project was learning and realizing how many physics concepts are actually in a tennis serve. For example, there is some kind of physics calculation you can do for every little step of a tennis serve as well as any other sports action.
Something that I think we did well in our project was that we got really good video footage and pictures. Something that I think we could've done better was speak clearer and louder in our video. This project has been a great experience and I have learned a lot because of it.