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Charlie Plamondon
Mrs. Sparrow
Physics, Period 3
5 May 2015
Snowboarding- End of Year Project
Snowboarding is a winter sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with
snow while standing on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet. The snowboard is attached using a
special boot set onto a mounted binding.The development of snowboarding was inspired by
skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s by
Gordon Kosteroski and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. Many physics concepts are
seen and/or used when snowboarding.
When you're sliding down a hill there are two forces acting upon you. When the board is
placed on top of the snow, the contact between the snow and board creates friction which melts a
small amount of water. This water is present throughout the length of the board, or at least the
length of it that's in contact with the snow. When the rider goes down the mountain, they are
actually riding on a very thin film of water, that eventually causes them to go faster because it
reduces friction. The type of snow also determines the amount of friction that occurs. In normal
snow (outside temp is below 32 and snow is firm) and new snow, the friction is just enough
for optimal riding conditions. If the snow is wet and/or melting (outside temp is above 32 but
more often above 40) then there is too much friction and the board slows down. If you are
riding on ice then there is virtually no friction because you are sliding. There are other conditions
that can also affect the friction when riding. The second is gravity, which must be used to shred.
Shredding plays an important role in snowboarding. You shift your weight from side to side,

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hence moving the board from one edge to another. In order to slow down, you must dig the edge
of the board into the snow. The larger amount of snow and the force of gravity create a set of
forces whose net force push the board in the direction desired by the ride. A snowboarder
typically gains speed by converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy of motion.
Keeping your balance/center of gravity is one of the most important parts of snowboarding. By
changing your center of gravity you are manipulating the board to go faster, slower, jump higher,
do bigger better tricks, etc. Changing your center of gravity can also be devastating, it could
cause you to wobble, fall, gain too much speed, etc. Any time an objects center of gravity
moves beyond the base, which keeps the object up, the object will fall. If a snowboarder doesnt
keep their weight equally distributed, theyre likely to fall on their back or front, depending on
which board edge they were switching to. To slow down and turn, a border digs into the snow
with their riding edge and leans in the direction they want tomove. The force of gravity and the
snow creates a group of forces whose total force pushes the board in the direction the rider
wants.
Newtons Laws also apply to snowboarding. Newtons first law states: Every object in a
state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied
to it. This applies to snowboarding when a snowboarder drops into the half pipe. He accelerates
until he reaches the bottom and his inertia carries him to the opposite side of the half pipe so that
he can do his trick. Newtons second law states: The relationship between an object's mass m, its
acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma.Acceleration and force are vectors; in this law
the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector. Newtons
second law applies to snowboarding when a snowboarder leans his body and the snowboard
turns in the opposite direction. His third law states: For every action there is an equal and

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opposite reaction. Newtons third law applies when the snowboarder turns the board and digs it
into the snow. The snow pushes back and stops the board from going further. All three of
Newton's law can be seen in a variety of different forms in relation to snowboarding.
G-force acceleration is a phenomena that some snowboarders will experience. The gforce acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of all non-gravitational and
non-electromagnetic forces acting on an object's freedom to move. In practice, these are surfacecontact forces between objects. G-force is a measurement of the type of acceleration that
indirectly causes weight. G-force accelerations indirectly produce weight, any g-force can be
described as a "weight per unit mass" g-force acceleration is produced by the surface of one
object being pushed by the surface of another object, the reaction-force to this push produces an
equal and opposite weight for every unit of an object's mass. The types of forces involved are
transmitted through objects by interior mechanical stresses. The g-force acceleration is the cause
of an object's acceleration in relation to free-fall. In snowboarding this can be seen in the
halfpipe. When a snowboarder launches out of the pipe to perform a trick they are going against
gravity. They eventually come back down and land in the pipe. This landing is where g-force
acceleration is seen. The force of gravity acting upon them and the force of the pipe (snow)
pushing back on them causes acceleration. That rapid acceleration is called g-force because the
snowboarder is actually not accelerating himself, gravity is. The dynamics of these phenomena
are what distinguish them from the g-forces caused by a relatively longer term accelerations.
Overall many physics concepts are seen in snowboarding. Friction, gravity, center of
gravity, balance, Newton's Laws, and g-force are just some physics concepts that relate to
snowboarding. Biology, psychology, chemistry, earth, and environmental sciences are also play a
role in allowing humans to enjoy the sport of snowboarding.

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Works Cited
"G-force." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 4 May 2015.
Lancer, Gabby. "Newtons Three Laws: Snowboarding." Newtons Three Laws: Snowboarding.
Web. 5 May 2015.
Normani, France. "Physics Of Snowboarding." Real World Physics Problems. Web. 4 May
2015.
"Snowboarding." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 4 May 2015.