The Effect of a Latex, Synthetic, and Mondo Track on the Acceleration of a Running Shoe on the Track
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physics
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Since the 1860s, athletes in the United States have been running on athletic tracks. Numerous advancements have been made to athletic tracks as a result of modern technology (“Tracks Through the Years,” 2012). A well-designed running track is important to give athletes the best opportunity to perform well. The purpose of this study was to determine which track type, out of polyurethane, latex, and mondo, is the most effective for racing by finding the acceleration of a shoe pulled along the track. It was hypothesized that the mondo track would result in the greatest acceleration, and the latex track would result in the least acceleration because the mondo track has the greatest amount of grooves to create friction while the latex track has the least. To find the acceleration of the shoe, it was dragged at a constant rate along each track type while hooked to a Go Direct Force Sensor to find the force needed to start the shoe moving. This force value was then used to calculate the friction coefficient between the shoe and the track as well as the acceleration of the shoe. A One-way ANOVA test found that there was a significant difference between the acceleration with which the shoe moved on the track for each track type, F(2, 87)=211.41 p=0.00. It was additionally found that the average friction coefficient was greatest on the mondo track (us=0.668) and smallest on the latex track (μs=0.531), supporting the hypothesis.
Recommended Citation
Aycock, Brantley, "The Effect of a Latex, Synthetic, and Mondo Track on the Acceleration of a Running Shoe on the Track" (2022). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 45.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2022/all/45
Location
HSS 206
Start Date
4-2-2022 12:00 PM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effect of a Latex, Synthetic, and Mondo Track on the Acceleration of a Running Shoe on the Track
HSS 206
Since the 1860s, athletes in the United States have been running on athletic tracks. Numerous advancements have been made to athletic tracks as a result of modern technology (“Tracks Through the Years,” 2012). A well-designed running track is important to give athletes the best opportunity to perform well. The purpose of this study was to determine which track type, out of polyurethane, latex, and mondo, is the most effective for racing by finding the acceleration of a shoe pulled along the track. It was hypothesized that the mondo track would result in the greatest acceleration, and the latex track would result in the least acceleration because the mondo track has the greatest amount of grooves to create friction while the latex track has the least. To find the acceleration of the shoe, it was dragged at a constant rate along each track type while hooked to a Go Direct Force Sensor to find the force needed to start the shoe moving. This force value was then used to calculate the friction coefficient between the shoe and the track as well as the acceleration of the shoe. A One-way ANOVA test found that there was a significant difference between the acceleration with which the shoe moved on the track for each track type, F(2, 87)=211.41 p=0.00. It was additionally found that the average friction coefficient was greatest on the mondo track (us=0.668) and smallest on the latex track (μs=0.531), supporting the hypothesis.
