Centripetal Acceleration in the Halfpipe
The half-pipe competition includes several elements of Physics, all revolving around Centripetal Acceleration. The design and engineering of the half pipe allows snowboarders to do tricks and perform. The height is Increased to allow more speed and it allows a bigger radius to fit in the curve. The height and radius, or curvature is important for when the snowboarder tries to change direction at a fast speed. The challenges of snowboarding come from differences between going down a steep side and flying in the air for tricks.
Tricks
When a snowboarder goes up for the turn, many forces are acting upon them. They will have a certain horizontal momentum that must be converted to vertical momentum in order to do tricks. The snowboarder will have a certain velocity, then they will go up in the air and the the direction will begin to change. This is called centripetal acceleration, or when acceleration changes direction. Because there is a change in direction, the snowboarders experiences an acceleration from the snow from the direction of the pipe. The force acting upon the snowboarder can be over 10 gs, so by going around the curve extra weight is put on and the snowboarder has to carry it all to get through turn. In order to get more air, the snowboarder must increase their speed, and to get a higher speed on the curve of the snow there needs to be a bigger acceleration to enable a change in direction. Because of this, engineers are constantly researching ways to decrease the force on person. There are many experiments with the dimensions of half-pipe and engineers figured out that radius should be increased, which causes height to increase. Over the years height has increased with new innovations to decrease force for an increased radius allows snowboarders to increase speed, and get more time in the air and while keeping the forces on their body to a minimum. Because of the importance of the design on the force, a greater appeal is created because skill and ability can be pushed and tested.