Elissa+Salamy

=Olympic Swimmers= Stephanie Rice, Katie Hoff and Hannah Miley applying their knowledge of physics at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.



Friction Swimmers are well versed in the ideas of friction and drag. Friction occurs when the water molecules come into contact with the swimmer's body and slows down the swimmer. In this photo, we see three female swimmers at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Take a look at their swim suits...not what you would see on a usually day at the beach, right? In Beijing we saw a lot of swimsuits that went all the way down to the ankle, for both men and women. It's not a fashion statement - these suits are specifically designed to reduce friction in the water. They are made of polyeurathene and have ultrasonically bonded seams to fit the swimmers like a second skin. Speedo's LZR suit, which proved to be very successful for Olympic swimmers in 2008, was designed in conjunction with NASA swimmers. These kinds of high tech suits have since been banned due to the buoyancy in the water they create. Both men and women swimmers wear caps, to reduce friction created by hair. It's not odd to note that these swimmers have hairless legs and arms, because they are female, but male swimmers are also hairless for major swim events. The swimmers on the left and on the right have their arms above their head in a streamline, in order to be as aquadynamic as possible by minimizing the surface area in which they will be traveling through the water. The diagram below shows the technique of streamline up close.

Momentum Our swimmers on the left and the right both have their knees bent, in the midst of a butterfly kick. The kick is one part of the stroke of butterfly, and is an important part in keeping the swimmer moving forward. The motion of a butterfly kick pushes water behind the swimmer, pushing them forward. The swimmer in the middle is in the midst of her butterfly stroke, another important part of butterfly. The swimmers arms extend above their head to grab the water in front, and push it behind them, propelling them forward.

Light Refraction occurs when light travels through an area of space that has a changing index of refraction, such as water. Any material that has an index of refraction different from air will provide a reflection, provided that surface is smooth. This is why we see the reflection of the swimmers and the bottom of the pool on the surface of the water.



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