It's all about Speed: The Physics of Luge

We all know what it feels like to travel 65 miles an hour sitting comfortably in a car. Now imagine that you are traveling just that fast, but only three inches above solid ice - lying feet first on a tiny sled. This is the sport of luge!

Linear Kinematics

Getting Started with position measurements

Kinematics: Fundamental concepts and activities

• Displacement
• Velocity
  • Average velocity
  • Direction
  • Speed
  • Instantaneous velocity
• Acceleration (average and instantaneous)

Kinematics in more than one dimension

• Vectors
  • A digression
  • Vector addition and subtraction
• Displacement
• Velocity
• Acceleration

3. Review

4. Think

Linear Dyamics

Introduction

Getting started

Newton’s Second Law

• Forces
• Free body diagram

Straight line motion andfriction

Movement around a curve

Review

Think

Other Issues

• The luge environment
• Luge equipment
• Other luge activities

© April, 1998, Montana State University-Bozeman