THE PHYSICS OF THE

100 METER DASHBy: Tilar Law, William Duff, Zoe Howell

The Mechanics of Sprints Body Position

ArmsLegs Head

Inertia Speed and Acceleration

The 100M In Action

Body Mechanics Head

The head should stay level with the jaw at a forward constant position during the duration of the race.

Body Mechanics Arms

While running keep your arms at a 90 degree angle to your elbow and let them naturally flow. Your arms swing as a counter to the forward movement produced by your legs while running.

Creating this movement is due the flexibility of the runners shoulder gridle

Body Mechanics Legs

Legs trust downward and back at 50-55 degrees

Legs should be in flexion to reduce the inertia and make forward movement easier

The lifted leg should never reach a horizontal position while running

What Not To Do

Inertia• At the starting point of the race, Inertia is

working against the runner.• In order to speed up the runner must

make short and quick strides to gain speed.

• As the runner speeds up, their strides become longer to cover a farther distance.

Speed and Acceleration

Speed and Acceleration

0 2 4 6 8 10 120

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Acceleration

Speed m/s

Speed and Acceleration

Citations http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/schools/lhs/

athletics/track/msprinting.html http://physicstt.tripod.com/id11.html http://www.faqs.org/sports-science/Pl-

Sa/Running-Sprinting.html