Speed Skating
1000 Meters Men and Women
The Aim
The goal of this project was to write an article about men and women's times of a Winter sport during the Winter Olympics. However, to make it more interesting, we decided to see when both men and women will both have the same times in the future. Using data from previous Olympic games, the conclusion was found by graphing two linear equations and finding the point of intersection between the two.
Woah, woah, woah. What is speed skating?! Is it...just skating fast?
Well, kinda.
It's basically equivalent to track and field stuff. However, instead of running on dry land, athletes compete with each other on skates. The ice rink is their track. As a speed skater, you're racing your opponent to the finish line, where your times are compared. Of course, the fastest racer wins. Speed skating has an interesting history- did you know that ice skated originally had bones for a 'blade'? People thought skating was pretty fun. By the 16th century, speed skating became a sport.
Look at Mike Ireland go!
Mike Ireland, of Canada, speed skates in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Notice the type of suit he wears; it's designed to cut down wind resistance, similar to swimsuits.
Notable Skaters
Yvonne van Gennip is a gold medalist of the 5000 meter speed skating race of the Calgary 1988 Olynpics, where she won three gold medals! Yvonne is one of the most successful female dutch all-round skaters of all time.
Grace
Aren't they just so graceful? Refined? Honestly, how do they keep that position without falling over? (Well, the includes physics and speed and blah) But my point is, notice their bent knees and the way their arms are held back. This position is vital to ANY type of skating. Hands are held back for balance. Knees are bent so you can actually GET somewhere, and a bent body is very useful if you want to increase speed by reducing wind resistance.
Let us begin!
The Data
This is the data chart created for the investigation. L1 can also be known as x, which represents the years of the games. '0' represents the older years, and increases as the years pass by. For an example, the very last number in the L1 column will represent the most recent game, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. L2 represents men gold medalist times, and L3 represents women's gold medalist times.
Scatter Plots and Data Points Galore
After collecting and inputting the data of the men and women times, the data was graphed. The x axis represents the years and games, while the y axis represents the times in seconds. The squares represent male times and the pluses represent female times.
Linear Regression
So...what is linear regression? It's basically a fancy term for line of best fit. The line of best fit (shown in the next picture) will run through it's respective points. It's a line that literally fits the data the 'best'. The two equations here, Y1 and Y2, are linear equations for the men and women linear regression lines. Y1= Women and Y2= Men.
The Verdict
Now that both lines have been graphed, we are able to use both lines to locate an intersection point. This intersection point represents the point at which both men and women will have the same times AND on the same year. The intersection point is our answer.
In the graph, men are faster at women. However, women are improving at a rather fast rate, and will in time outdo the men.
Men= Square
Women= Plus
The X
The x value represents the year in which both men and women will have the same times. Since '0' in our chart represented the year 1976, 52.5 plus 1976 equals 2028.5. This is the year 2014, and the Winter Olympics are held every four years. If we count forward- 14, 18, 22, 26, we will find that there will be no Winter Olympics held in 2028 and men will therefore not have the same times as women. The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2032 after the year 2028.
The Y
Y represents the time both men and women will have during the year 2028.5. So we now know that during this year, men and women's gold medalist times will be approximately 1.08 seconds. But because the Winter Olympics will not be held in 2028, this even isn't going to happen. HOWEVER. After that intersection point, women will be faster than men! Go girls!