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[Phys-l] Momentum transfer in Relay Speed Skating



Thought this was pretty cool. In the Olympic speed skating relay event, the skaters don't transfer batons or just tag each other, rather in the transition the earlier skater pushes the new skater forward to give the new skater an extra boost in speed. However, giving the new skater momentum steals momentum from the earlier skater and the earlier skater slows down. (Alternately, forces come in pairs, etc.)

You can see this pretty well at around the 50 second mark of this YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvw-N9Kxv-o

Sure it is like lots of other collisions, but students often think that human mediated collisions are somehow different.

Zeke Kossover