Mathletes at the Winter Olympics

January 6, 2010

NBC Learn and the National Science Foundation have teamed up to help students discover "The Science of the Olympic Winter Games" in a series of 16 videos narrated by NBC News anchor Lester Holt.

One math-related segment features a state-of-the-art high-speed camera. Able to capture images at rates of 1,500 frames per second, the camera's shots of athletes in action illustrate Newton's Three Laws of Motion, the Law of Conservation and Angular Momentum, friction, drag, speed, and other scientific concepts.

Another segment, "Mathletes" (in the third row), features Williams College mathematics professor and MAA member Edward Burger. In the segment Burger explains why math counts by pointing out that "math is all around us whenever there is motion and quantities". He describes how geometry is used in hockey, how arithmetic and averages are used in scoring the figure skating competition, and how math can track the performance of speed skaters and perhaps influence their strategy.

"The Science of the Winter Olympic Games" was launched on NBC in December and the videos will air on The Today Show over the course of the weeks leading up to the Winter Olympics in February.

Source:  NBC Learn.

Images via Wikipedia.