Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Physics SPA
So I was bored attempting to study for it tomorrow, and since DC and I have discussed the topic of ball speed for very long, I decided to do some calculations. (COME ON FIZZIKS STUDENTS LAUGH AT THE BIO AND ARTS PEOPLE WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND)
Lane Length from Foul line to Head pin (60 feet) = 18.288m
1 kg = 2.2 pounds (roughly)
For example, let's say dc hits the head pin in 2.8s (which he does, or at least around +/- 0.1s) with his 14 pound ball, and he wants to improve by 0.1s to 2.7s instead.
Speed of a 2.7s ball = 18.288/2.7 = 6.7733m/s
Kinetic energy of a 2.7s, 14pound ball (ignoring torque) = 1/2 mv^2 = 1/2 x (14/2.2) x 6.7733^2 = 145.98 J
Assuming DC throws all balls of whatever mass with the same energy,
Speed of a 2.8s ball = 18.288/2.8 = 6.5314m/s
Mass of ball thrown at 2.8s (original speed) with energy of 2.7s, 14pound ball = (145.98x2)/(6.5314^2) = 6.84 kg = 15.056 pounds
So what does this mean? If you want to throw a faster ball, for every 0.1s that you cut from the time your ball takes to reach the headpin, you require the same amount of energy as if you were throwing a ball that is 1 pound heavier at your original slower speed (i.e. Ding Chun needs to be able to throw a 15 pound ball instead of a 14 pound ball at his original speed in order to throw his 14 pound ball 0.1s faster). 0.1s -> 1 pound. So what aloysius was doing for some of us with the 1 pound weights, if we trained long enough with them we would bowl 0.1s faster without them.
P.S. This experiment is riddled with assumptions, but meh whatever.
I goes back to fizziks spa now lol.
icyveins | 8:35 PM
