Gymnastics is a sport practiced by both men and women. It involves the graceful performance of acrobatic moves maintaining control of the body. This movements include tumbling, running and the use of different gymnastic equipment.
. Gymnastics was used by the ancient Greeks to prepare for war. Running, jumping and activities like boxing were used. These activities helped develop the muscles needed for hand-to-hand combat. Gymnastic equipment was first created in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by Johann Friedrich GutsMuth and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. The two men designed and introduced the horizontal bar, parallel bars, balance beam, side horse with pommels, ladder, and vaulting horse. Friedrich …show more content…
This will lower the distance from the axis of rotation (through the middle of the gymnast's body). They can then extend their body to slow down when landing or twisting. You can also see this in the equation Iω=Ifωf (I is inertia, and ω is angular velocity). When in the tucked position, the gymnast creates a lower moment of inertia, which in turn creates a greater angular velocity. Greater angular momentum means they have the potential to do more flips. The gymnast gains angular momentum by pushing off the surface at an angle. As mentioned earlier the Yurchenko vault has four opportunities to push off a surface. This means that it has four opportunities to increase angular …show more content…
One of these is to ball up into a tight ball. Angular momentum is represented by the formula L = (r)(m)(v) I Since angular momentum and the mass of the gymnast are constants, lowering the r (the distance of the body from the axis of rotation) causes an increase in velocity. The faster they spin the more flips they are able to perform. You can also see this in the equation Iω=Ifωf (I is inertia, and ω is angular velocity). When in the tucked position, the gymnast creates a lower moment of inertia, which in turn creates a greater angular velocity. The gymnast can also extend their bodies to slow rotational speed. This helps them land on their feet when they leave the vault. Another physics concept that can be considered when observing a gymnast on the vault is the change in rotational velocity. This is important because for various moves the gymnast must the rate of rotation so that they can complete the move. This can be done by changing the distance of their center of mass from their center of rotation.
However, angular momentum must remain constant due to the law of conservation of momentum. (Jemni,