Exam 1 Flashcards
Definition of Biomechanics
The study of forces and their effects on living systems
*Bio = Life
Definition of Mechanics
The branch of physics specifically concerned with the effect of forces and energy on the motion of bodies
Definition of Static Mechanics
The study of systems in a state of equilibrium
- At rest or in a constant state of motion
Definition of Dynamic Mechanics
The study of systems in a state of accelerated/changing motion
Definition of Kinetics
Study of forces that inhibit, cause, facilitate or modify motion of a body
- e.g. Friction, gravity, and pressure
Definition of Kinematics
Study or description of the spatial and temporal characteristics of motion without regard to the causative forces
- e.g. Displacement and velocity
Steps of a Qualititative Biomechanical Analysis
- Description
- Observation
- Evaluation
- Instruction
Goals of Biomechanical Analysis
- Technique Improvement
- Equipment Improvement
- Training Improvement
- Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Biomechanics and Ergonomics
Analyzing the work environment and human-machine interaction.
Qualitative Biomechanical Analysis
Pertaining to quality (without the use of numbers)
- Example: Strong, skillful, agile, flexible, fast
Quantitative Biomechanical Analysis
Involving numbers
- Example:
- Running speed = 5 m/s
- Height = 1.75 m
- Mass = 68.2 kg
Definition of a System
Any structure or organization of related structures whose state of motion is of analytical interest
Anthropometry
- Describes the shape of the system
- Studies the measurements of the body and segments in terms of:
- Height, weight, volume, breadth, proportion, and other properties related to shape, mass and mass distribution
- Varying body shape and limb proportions affect motion
- e.g. competitive swimmers tend to have long torsos and short legs
- Studies the measurements of the body and segments in terms of:
Basic anthropometric measures
- Height and weight
- BMI
- Somatotype (endo-, ecto-, meso-morph)
- Waist-to-hip ratio
Anatomical position
Refers to a person standing erect with all joints extended, feet parallel, palms facing forward, and fingers together.
Superior
Closer to the head
Inferior
Closer to the feet
Anterior
Toward the front of the body
Posterior
Toward the back of the body
Medial
Position or movement toward the midline of the body
Lateral
Position or movement away from the midline of the body
Proximal
Closer to the attachment or midline of a limb to the body
Distal
Having a position further from the attachment of the limb to the body
Superficial
Closer to the surface of the body
Deep
Further from the surface of the body
Cardinal plane
- A plane that passes directly through the midline of the body
- Divides the mass of the body in half
- 3 cardinal planes:
- Sagittal - right/left halves
- Frontal - anterior/posterior
- Transverse/Horizontal - superior/inferior
Circumduction
Involves flexion, extention, abduction and adduction
Axes of rotation
- Imaginary line positioned perpendicular to a plane
- All movement occurs around an axis
- Axis is at the center of mass for whole body movements
- imaginary line about which a joint or structure revolves
- Axis is usually a joint for segmental movements
Longitudinal axis
Directed vertically
Rotational movements in the transverse plane occur
Anteroposterior axis
Directed along the sagittal plane
Rotations in the frontal plane occur
Mediolateral axis
Directed along the frontal plane
Rotations in the sagittal plane occur
Translation
- Motion along one axis in which all points of the system move at the same time, in the same direction, with respect to the defined reference frame
- Path may be represented by one point traveling along a line from one place to the other
- Also called Linear motion
Linear motion
- Path of a system can be straight or curved
- Rectilinear translation: path of the system is a straight line
- Curvilinear translation: path of the system is a curved line
Rotation
- Occurs when the system is restricted to move around a fixed axis - therefore in a circular path
- Also called angular motion
General Motion
- Combination of tranlation and rotation
- most human motion is general
Closed skills
- A skill performed under standard environment conditions
- e.g. basketball free throw
- Goal is always the same height
- Free throw line is the same distance from the goal
- Ball is standard size and weight
- e.g. basketball free throw
Open skills
- A skill that must be altered because of the changing dynamics of the activity, environment, or object of interest
- e.g. passing and dribbling during a soccer game
- During a game, no two passes are identical
- Dribbling is a dynamic skill that changes contantly depending on defensive pressure, open spaces, position of teammates and velocity of player with the ball
- e.g. passing and dribbling during a soccer game
Motion
- Change in position with respect to spatial and temporal frames of reference
- No motion occurs without force
Discrete skills
- Movement with a definite beginning and end-point
- e.g. broad jump
Continuous skills
- Cycles of motion performed repeatedly with no well-defined beginning or end-points
- e.g. walking
Serial skills
- Movements that appear to be continuous but are really a combination of discrete motions
- e.g. rowing
Kinetic Chain
- System of linked rigid bodies subject for force application
- Simple kinetic chain: each segment participates in no more than two linkages
- e.g. arm
- Complex kinetic chain: a segment is linked to more than two other segments
- e.g. torso
- Simple kinetic chain: each segment participates in no more than two linkages
Open vs. Closed Kinetic Chains
- Open kinetic chain
- the most distal segment is free to move
- e.g. barbell curl
- the most distal segment is free to move
- Closed kinetic chain
- the most distal segment is stationary
- e.g. push up
- Total chain has less mobility than open kinetic chain
- the most distal segment is stationary
Force
- Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement
- A push or a pull
- Characterized by magnitude, direction, and point of application
Types of force
- External/Internal
- Contact/Non Contact
- Action/Reaction
- Motive/Resistive
Unit for Force
Newtons (N)
1 Newton of force = how many lbs of force?
- 1 N = 0.225 lbs. of force
or
- 1 lb. of force = 4.448N
Internal forces
- Act within the defined system
- Internal forces can change only the shape of the system
External forces
- Forces that act on an object as a result of its interaction with the environment surrounding it
- Only external forces can cause a change in the motion of a system
Tensile forces
Pulling forces which act on the ends of the internal structure
Compressive forces
- Pushing forces that act on the ends of an internal structure
- Internal forces hold things together when the structure is under tension or compression
Non contact force
- Forces that occur without contact
- Gravity
- Magnetic forces
- Electrical forces
The only non contact force is…
- Gravity
- 9.81 m/s2
What is weight?
- The amount of gravitational force exerted on a body
- W = mg (product of mass and the acceleration of gravity)
What is mass?
- Quantity of matter composing a body (dog, tree, desk, swimming pool, you)
- Represented by m
- Units are in kg
Contact forces
The result of physical contact between two bodies
Action force
- The initially applied force
Reaction force
- The “opposite force”
- The simultaneous equal counterforce acting in the opposite direction to the action force
Motive Force
- Increases the speed of an object
- Changes direction of an object
- Usually concentric
Resistive Force
- Resists motion
- Decreases speed
- Usually eccentric
Properties of a force
- Direction: way the force is applied
- Magnitude: size of the applied force
- Point of application: point at which the system receives the applied force
- Line of action: imaginary line extending indefinitely along the vector through the tip and tail
Net force
- The single resultant force derived from the vector composition of all the acting forces
- The force that determines the net effect of all acting forces on a body
Pressure
- Force per unit of area over which the force acts
- Commonly used to describe force distribution within a fluid (blood pressure, water pressure)
- P = F/A
- Measured in N/cm2 & in Pascals (Pa)
Stress
- Distribution of force within a body, quantified as force divided by the force over which the force acts
- Commonly used to describe force distribution within a solid
- Measured in N/cm2
Friction
- Force acting over an area of contact between two surfaces in the direction opposite that of motion or motion tendency
- Quantified in units of force (N) because friction is a force
- Starting friction is greater than moving friction
- It takes more force to start moving an object than it does to keep it moving
Maximum static friction
- (Fm)
- As magnitude of applied force becomes greater and greater, magnitude of opposing friction force increase to a critical point
What determines the difficulty of motion for two objects in contact?
Magnitude of friction
Mechanical behavior of bodies in contact friction
- Static bodies: friction is equal to the applied force
- Dynamic bodies: friction is constant and less than maximum static friction
Definition of a Vector
Force quantities described by magnitude and direction
Definition of Scalar
Quantities that have magnitude but no specific direction
Scalar Quantities
Mass, volume, length, and speed
Colinear Forces
- The composition of vectors with the same direction requires adding their magnitudes
- Forces that have the same line of action
- The forces may act in the same direction or opposite direction on the same line
Vector Composition
Process of determining a single vector from two or more vectors by vector addition
Segments and Forces
- Segments are represented with lines connecting points
- Forces are represented by vectors or arrows
Vector Equality
- Two vectors are considered equal if they possess the same magnitude and direction
A = B
Vector Algebra
The composition of vectors with the opposite directions requires subtracting their magnitudes
Resultant
A vector that represents the sum of all forces (net force) acting upon a system
Vector Resolution
Operation that replaces a single vector with two perpendicular vectors such that the vector composition of the two perpendicular vectors yields the original vector
Concurrent Forces
- Do not act along the same line
- All forces pass through a common point
Pythagorean Theorem
- A2 + B2 = C2
- sin = O/H
- cos = A/H
- tan = O/A
Movement kinematics is also referred to as _____ or ______
Form or technique
Linear Displacement
- Change in location
- The directed distance from initial to final location
- The vector equivalent of linear distance
- Measured in units of cm, m, km
- Vector quantity: initial to the final position
Linear Distance
- The total length of the path traveled by the system of interest
- Scalar in nature; only tells magnitude
Linear Speed
- Distance covered over the time taken
- Speed = Distance/Time
- A scalar quantity
- Measured in units of m/s
Running speed is the product of stride ______ and stride _______
Stride Length & Stride Frequency
What’s the Spatial Reference System useful for?
- Standardizing descriptions of human motion
- Most commonly used is the Cartesian coordinate system
- Human body joint centers are labeled with numerical x and y coordinates for 2D
- x, y, and z for 3D
Position
- Defined as location in space
- Where is an object in space:
- At the beginning of it’s movement?
- End of the movement?
- Some time during its movement?
Linear Velocity
- The rate of change in location
- Velocity = Displacement/Time
- The vector equivalent of linear speed
- Measured in units of m/s
Speed vs. Velocity
- Speed = rate of motion
- Rate of distance traveled
- Velocity = rate of motion in a specific direction
- Rate of displacement
- Displacement = vector quantity = so is velocity
- Rate of displacement
Human systems usually do not have the same ____ __ ______ throughout the position change
- Same rate of motion
- Periods of speeding up and slowing down
Peak rate of motion
Maximum rate of motion achieved
Average speed/velocity vs. Instantaneous speed/velocity
- Average: Velocity or speed over whole time interval
- Instantaneous: Rate of motion at one given instant in time
Acceleration
- Change in velocity divided by the time it took for the change in velocity to take place
- The rate of change in linear velocity
- Acceleration = change in velocity/time
- a = V2 - V1 / t
- Measured in units of m/s2
- Can be 0, negative or positive
Projectile
A body in free fall that is subject only to the forces of gravity and air resistance
Why do we analyze the horizontal and vertical components of projectile motion separately?
The vertical component is influenced by gravity and the horizontal component is not
Kinematics of projectile motion (two balls)
- Two balls - one dropped and one projected horizontally from the height
- Both land at the same time since gravity affects their vertical velocities equally
What is the effect of gravity?
The force of gravity produces a constant acceleration of -9.81m/s2 on bodies near the surface of the earth
The pattern of change in the vertical velocity of a projectile is ……
Symmetrical about the apex
Vertical velocity _____ as the ball ______ ……
Vertical velocity decreases as the ball rises and increases as the ball falls due to the influence of gravitational force
3 factors influencing the trajectory (flight path) of a projectile
- The angle of projection
- The projection speed
- The relative height of projection
Projection angle
The direction of projection with respect to the horizontal
Projection speed
The magnitude of projection velocity
Inital velocity
- Incorporates both the intial speed (magnitude) and the angle of projection (direction) into a single quantity
- When initial velocity is resolved the horizontal and vertical components will have separate speeds
Relative projection height
The difference between projection height and landing height
Newton’s law of inertia
A body will maintain a state of rest or constant velocity unless acted on by an external force that changes its state
Linear momentum
- Product of an object’s mass and its linear velocity
- Linear momentum = M
- M = mv
- Units: (kg)(m/s)
Elastic Collisions
When two objects collide head-on, their combined momentum is conserved
Inelastic Collisions
- Objects in collision stay together and move together with the same velocity
- Also called plastic collision
- Most collisions are not perfectly inelastic or elastic, they are usually somewhere in between
Coefficient of restitution
When two bodies undergo a direct collision the difference in their velocities immediately after impact is proportional to the difference in their velocities immediately before impact
Factors affecting coefficient of restitution
- Velocities
- Temperature
- Material
- Spin
Application of Newton’s 2nd Law
- Assuming mass remains constant, the greater the force, the greater the acceleration
- Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass
Summation of Forces
- The combination of forces produced by different parts of the human body
- When a person is moving or attempting to move an object, several different parts of the body act together to maximize the force
- Sequential and simultaneous force
Newton’s law of acceleration
- A force (F) applied to a body causes an acceleration (a) of that body of a magnitude proportional to the force, in the direction of the force, and inversely proportional to the body’s mass (m)
- F = ma
Impulse
Product of force and time interval the force acts
Newton’s 3rd Law (action-reaction)
- For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
- F1 = F2