Lessons on Friction & Collisions

Friction and collisions are concepts relevant to both ice hockey and figure skating. Consider the graph below, excerpted from a book by Schottenbauer Publishing:

Discussion Questions

1. How is air hockey similar to ice hockey? How is it different?
2. How is air hockey similar to ice skating? How is it different?
3. What happens when a hockey puck collides with a stick? 
4. How are the phenomena in this graph similar to collisions between an ice hockey puck and stick? How are they different?
5. What is the role of friction in ice skating? What does friction do to the motion of a hockey puck or a skater? 
6. How does this graph demonstrate friction?
7. How are the phenomena in this graph similar to friction experienced by an ice hockey puck? How are they different?
8. How are the phenomena in this graph similar to friction experienced by an ice skater? How are they different?

Additional sample graphs are available in a free pamphlet from the publisher's webpage.

Additional Information

Schottenbauer Publishing

Free Education Resources

Comparing Ice Skating Equipment in the Lab

What types of measurements are ideal for understanding ice skating? Take a moment to write down a list of at least four types of data to collect and compare. What types of equipment are necessary to measure each type? What physics concepts are relevant?

Many types of interesting data are available for comparison in the book The Science of Ice Skating: Volume 1 (Extended Edition) from Schottenbauer Publishing. Data include position, velocity, acceleration, and force for the following equipment:

• Surface Types
• Ice
• Synthetic Ice
• Wet
• Dry
• Skate Types
• Bob Skates
• Child Double-Runner Skates
• Hockey Skates
• Youth
• Adult
• Figure Skates
• 2 Sizes
• 2 Types of Blades
• Blade Preparation
• Sharpened
• Unsharpened
• Skate Mass
• None
• Added 2.5 pounds of weight

Additional types of data include:

• Hockey Puck Motion
• Vertical Motions (Force)
• Stepping
• Jumping
• Skate Support for Ankles (Force)
• Ice Melting (Temperature)

Free sample graphs are available in a free pamphlet from the publisher's webpage.

Additional Information

Schottenbauer Publishing

Free Education Resources

Spinning on Ice

Physics divides motion into two general types: translational (straight) motion and rotational (curved) motion. Whether it is a figure skater, hockey skater, or puck rotating on the ice, the same laws of physics apply. 

The graph below (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved), excerpted from the book series Glide, Spin, & Jump: The Science of Ice Skating from Schottenbauer Publishing, shows a rod rotating around a central axis.

Discussion Questions

1. Describe the four variables contained in the graph. What is the range of each variable?
2. How is position measured in the graph? What is the unit of measurement?
3. How many times is force applied to the rod? 
4. When force is applied, what happens to the rod?
5. Why does the rod slow down, and motion stop?
6. What is the definition of acceleration? 
7. Why does acceleration change so much, when the velocity and position do not?

Additional free graphs are available in a free pamphlet from the publisher's webpage. 

The following books from Schottenbauer Publishing contain similar types of graphs and data pertaining to the science of ice skating, figure skating, and hockey:

Graphs & Data for Science Lab: Multi-Volume Series

• The Science of Ice Skating 
• Volume 1: Translational Motion
• Volume 2: Rotational Motion (Curves)
• Volume 3: Rotational Motion (Spins)
• Volume 4: Jumps
• Volume 5: Ice Hockey
• Volume 6: Biophysics
• Volume 7: Video Analysis
• Volume 8: Reference Manual
• The Science of Hockey
• Volume 1: Force, Acceleration, & Video Analysis of Pucks & Balls
• Volume 2: Force & Acceleration of Sticks, plus Biophysics
• Volume 3: Video Analysis of Ice, Field, & Street Hockey Sticks

Anthologies of 28 Graphs

• The Science of Figure Skating
• The Science of Ice Hockey
• The Science of Winter Olympic Sports

Additional Information

Schottenbauer Publishing

Free Education Resources