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    Frisbee Physics

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    harsh
    The document discusses the physics behind how Frisbees fly. It explains that Frisbees generate lift through their shape and angle of attack, which allows lower air pressure on top through Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law. Throwing a Frisbee with spin provides stability through angular momentum. The document also provides information on the history of Frisbees and organized competitions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Frisbee Physics

    Uploaded by

    harsh
    120 views4 pages
    The document discusses the physics behind how Frisbees fly. It explains that Frisbees generate lift through their shape and angle of attack, which allows lower air pressure on top through Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law. Throwing a Frisbee with spin provides stability through angular momentum. The document also provides information on the history of Frisbees and organized competitions.

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    The document discusses the physics behind how Frisbees fly. It explains that Frisbees generate lift through their shape and angle of attack, which allows lower air pressure on top through Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law. Throwing a Frisbee with spin provides stability through angular momentum. The document also provides information on the history of Frisbees and organized competitions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    120 views4 pages

    Frisbee Physics

    Uploaded by

    harsh
    The document discusses the physics behind how Frisbees fly. It explains that Frisbees generate lift through their shape and angle of attack, which allows lower air pressure on top through Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law. Throwing a Frisbee with spin provides stability through angular momentum. The document also provides information on the history of Frisbees and organized competitions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    FRISBEE PHYSICS How does physics play a role in Frisbee ying?

    Back to cool questions about ight

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------* How does a Frisbee y?


    * Why is a Frisbee shaped the way it is?
    * What would it be like to compete in a world championship Frisbee competition?
    * How fast and how far can a Frisbee go?
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Discussion
    In the late 1940s Fred Morrison performed some experiments with ying discs. Some of the discs he
    experimented with were made out of metal while others were formed out of a new material called
    plastic. In 1955 the Wham-O Company purchased the rights and molds from Morrison. It wasn't
    until the early 1960s when Frisbees became the rage. Whamo-O's former General Manager Ed
    Headrick provided the organization and groundwork for the growth of the Frisbee craze. Today
    organized competitions take place each year around the world culminating in the World Frisbee
    Competition in California.
    Two factors inuence the ight of a Frisbee, gravity and air. Gravity acts on all objects the same
    way, accelerating their mass towards the center of the Earth at 10 meters/second. Once in the air,
    lift and angular momentum act on the Frisbee giving it a ballet-type performance. Lift is
    generated by the Frisbee's shaped surfaces as it passes through the air. Maintaining a positive

    angle of attack, the air moving over the top of the Frisbee ows faster than the air moving
    underneath it.
    Under the Bernoulli Principle, there is then a lower air pressure on top of the Frisbee than beneath it.
    The difference in pressure causes the Frisbee to rise or lift. This is the same principle that allows
    planes to take off, y and land. Another signicant factor in the Frisbee's lift is Newton's Third Law
    which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Frisbee forces air
    down (action) and the air forces the Frisbee upward (reaction). The air is deected downward by the
    Frisbee's tilt, or angle of attack.
    Spinning the Frisbee when it is thrown, or giving it angular momentum (gyroscopic inertia),
    provides it with stability. Angular momentum is a property of any spinning mass. Throwing a
    Frisbee without any spin allows it to tumble to the ground. The momentum of the spin also gives it
    orientational stability, allowing the Frisbee to receive a steady lift from the air as it passes through it.
    The faster the Frisbee spins, the greater its stability.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Things to Talk About


    1. Does the thick rim of the Frisbee affect its ight?
    2. What happens when you throw a Frisbee straight up? How do you aim a Frisbee?
    3. What other sports use spin for better performance?
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------Angular Momentum--A rotating body's resistance to change in its orientation and rate of rotation.
    This is similar to gyroscopic inertia.
    Angle of Attack--The angle formed by the tilt of the ying disk and the line parallel to the ground.
    Bernoulli's principle The pressure in a uid decreases as the speed of the uid increases.
    Gravity--The force that makes objects move or tend to move toward each other.
    Lift--An upward force resulting from decreasing the pressure on the top of an object by increasing
    the velocity of the air owing over the top of it.
    Newton's Third Law = for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Activity Page
    Flying on Paper!
    Discover the best conditions for Frisbee distance ying!

    Main Activity
    By graphing the results of various tosses you will be able to calculate the average distance you can
    make a Frisbee y and discover the best conditions for distance ying.
    Materials:
    * Frisbee
    * Tape measure
    * Paper
    * Pencil

    1. Divide your class into equal teams. Take turns throwing the Frisbee.
    2. Measure the distance from where you began to toss the Frisbee to where it hits the ground.
    Record your distances in a log.
    3. After everyone has recorded the distances of a few tries, calculate the average distance of your
    team's throws.
    4. Compare your average to the other teams. Record the averages in your log and create a graph to
    represent your data.

    Questions
    1. What caused the Frisbee to y the farthest? The shortest?
    2. What could be done to improve the ight of the Frisbee? Experiment with your ideas to see
    if you can make it y farther.
    3. What would the best weather conditions be for distance ying? How might strong winds
    affect the distance a Frisbee could y? Why?
    Learn more about the three axes of motion. Stand with your arms extended straight out from
    your sides like the wings of a plane. Bend over at the waist and then bend backwards to imitate
    pitch. Lean your body from side to side to simulate a roll. Now rotate or twist your body at the
    waist to do a yaw. What other moves can you imitate? Which ones are the hardest to do?
    Find out about the similarities and differences between a Frisbee and an airplane. What makes
    heavier than air devices like helicopters, jets, single engine planes and rockets lift? Build a
    paper airplane and y it. What physical forces affect its ight?
    What would it be like if you were a Frisbee? Would you like to live on a Frisbee or travel
    around the world on one? Write a story about the kinds of experiences you might have. What
    would you do if there was a strong storm coming? How would you navigate?
    Invite a couple friends to help you calculate the velocity and acceleration of a Frisbee toss.
    Take turns acting as the time keeper, data recorder and tosser. Use a stop watch to time how
    long the Frisbee is in the air and a tape measure to determine the distance it travels. Record the
    data from each toss. Try calculating different kinds of throws like ones into the wind, with the
    wind and across the wind. Which direction works best? Does a fast ying Frisbee travel farther
    than a slower one?
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------Tapes of this episode of Newton's Apple and others are available from GPN for only $24.95.
    Please call 1-800-228-4630.
    For information on other Newton's Apple resources for home and school,
    please call 1-800-588-NEWTON!
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Resources
    * Horowitz, Judy and Bloom, Billy. Frisbee, More Than Just A Game of Catch. Champagne,
    Illinois: Leisure Press, 1983.
    * Johnson, Dr. Stancil E.D. Frisbee. A Practioners Manual and Denitive Treatise. New York:
    Workman Publishing Company, 1975.
    * Tips, Charles. Frisbee by the Masters, Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts, 1977

    Additional Sources of Information


    * Wham-O Sports Promotion Department P.O. Box 4 San Gabriel, CA 91778-0004 (818) 287-9681
    * International Frisbee Disc Association P.O. Box 970-P San Gabriel, CA 91776

    WE ENCOURAGE DUPLICATION FOR EDUCATIONAL USE!


    People at Newton's Apple wrote this and begged me to copy it.

    Back to cool questions about ight

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