Biomechanical principles

Question 1

what is biomechanics?

Answer 1

The study of movement of living body with regards to the forces and mechanical law that are exerted upon it

Question 2

what is stability?

Answer 2

an object resistant to changing position

Question 3

what is centre of gravity?

Answer 3

the place where weight of an object/person is most concentrated

Question 4

what are the types of equilibrium

Answer 4

stable equilibrium - base support here is wide and centre of gravity low and falls within base support

unstable equilibrium - base support here is narrow and centre of gravity is high and falls outside boundaries of base support

neutral equilibrium - centre of gravity neither raised/lowered

Question 5

why does base support effect stability?

Answer 5

• an athletes centre of gravity needs to remain over base support for them to stay balanced when stationary
• can widen legs or get lowered to increase base support

Question 6

how does centre of mass effect stability?

Answer 6

• can be effected by the positioning of the body
• centre of mass lowered = more stable
• centre of mass higher = less stable

Question 7

What is newtons 1st law? sporting example?

Answer 7

law of inertia
an object will stay at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an external force

sporting e.g. a golf ball will remain at rest until acted upon by a force from the driver

Question 8

what is newton’s 2nd law? sporting example?

Answer 8

law of acceleration
an object will accelerate in same direction as force applied upon it and amount of acceleration is directly proportional to this force
sporting e.g. tennis ball accelerates in same direction as force applied to it and acceleration directly proportional to it

Question 9

What is newtons 3rd law? sporting example?

Answer 9

law of reaction
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
sporting e.g. a bounce pass gives an equal and opposite reaction as it will bounce back upwards

Question 10

what is the difference between static and kinetic friction?

Answer 10

static - friction that is acting on an object before it moves
kinetic - friction that is acting on an object when it’s in motion

Question 11

what are factors that effect friction?

Answer 11

1. the heavier the object/person the more friction that acts on the object/person
2. the coefficient of friction acting on an object relates to surface being travelled on