Snowboarding with Science
BY: Dillon and Tanner
Halfpipes with Hangtime
With halfpipes, they take a certain semi-circle look. The radius or curvature is important to how much velocity and acceleration, but overall, how high you can get yourself up into the air.
Venturing Velocity
It all starts with velocity. In order to gain a larger velocity, engineers have designed halfpipes that have a much larger radius. By increasing the radius, it gave the halfpipe higher walls. With the walls being higher, you gain more feet(meters) per second on your descent down the halfpipe.
Shaun White - Double McTwist 1260
Centripetal Acceleration of the Snowboarding Sensation
The centripetal acceleration increases due to the increase in velocity and radius of the halfpipe. The curvature of the pipe along with switching from a faster downward direction to a quicker upward direction allows the boarder to gain a much greater centripetal acceleration than before.