Re: Half-pipe snowboarding

[Pete Lohstreter <plohstreter@MAIL.HOCKADAY.ORG>]

PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu writes:
> In the Olympic snowboarding event the snowboarder goes down one side of
> the
> half-pipe and then rises as high as 10 feet above the other side.
>
> If we did this with a bowling ball on a hard surface we would not expect
> the
> additional potential energy unless we really pushed ot give it an
> increased
> initial velocity as well as the gravitational PE that it has.
>
> The athletes did not appear to have much forward speed going into this
> move.
>  What do they do to gain the extra height?

The half pipe is also pointing down hill.  I assume that the combination
of the two produces the extra height.
>



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