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Concussions in the national football league
Concussions in the national football league
Physics of football/soccer
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Riley Crandall
16 May 2014
Dr. Stokes
Preventing Concussions in Football: A Newtonian Perspective
Recently, the topic of concussions and concussion prevention has gained widespread attention among athletes of all ages. Football in particular has received a large amount of attention due to the high rate of concussions among its participants. While efforts such as rule changes have been made to make football safer, these injuries are still occurring at a higher rate than what many feel is acceptable. What can be done to prevent these injuries from continuing? Can football be made safer while retaining the high speed nature of the sport? The answer lies within the realm of Physics.
Newton’s three laws of motion state that: 1. an object’s state of motion tends to remain constant, unless an external force is applied. 2. The force applied to the object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration, and the force and acceleration vectors are in the same direction 3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When considering these laws in the analysis of a hard collision in football, we make a few observations.
First, we observe that in order for a concussion to occur, a rapid change in the motion of the skull must also occur within a short amount of time. This results in the brain (which tends to remain in a constant state of motion) colliding with the inside of the skull as the skull begins to change its state of motion. This causes compressional force on the cerebrum resulting in brain injury.
Second, the force providing the change in motion is primarily the result of a rapid change in acceleration of the objects involved (assuming the players’ individual masses remain constant.) If we are to a...
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...y will occur (Demarest). By increasing the amount of padding in a helmet the time of the collision is further increased, thereby decreasing the force of an equivalent transfer of momentum.
The principle described is that of elasticity. If a collision is very elastic, more kinetic energy is conserved resulting in a greater amount of acceleration or deceleration of the objects involved. Within the context of football helmets, inelastic collisions mean smaller magnitudes of acceleration and fewer brain injuries.
Given the requirements stated previously, it would seem that the most effective way of preventing concussions in football while retaining the high-speed nature of the sport would be to make better helmets which increase the time of collision. This can be done by adding more padding, or by introducing more inelastic materials into football helmets and pads.
A concussion is defined as temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head or a violent shock from a heavy blow. The force transmitted to the head causes the brain to hit the skull, which causes the brain to swell. The symptoms of a concussion can appear immediately after contact or they may subtle and may not appear right away. The symptoms of a concussion can vary in length. There are many different symptoms to a concussion: "Common symptoms after a concussive traumatic brain injury are headache, loss of memory (amnesia) and confusion" (Mayo). Other symptoms that may be involved with a concussion include loss of consciousness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, and fatigue. There are also symptoms that may not occur immediately, but may be delayed hours or days after. These symptoms include difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to light, and sleep disturbances. An athlete should ...
Freudenrich, C. (n.d.). How the Physics of Football Works. In howstuffworks.com. Retrieved March 20, 2014
When looking at a collision between a baseball bat and ball, three things always apply:
A simple test of bouncing a golf ball on a solid surface shows that the golf ball does not return to it's initial height. The elasticity of a ball (e) is equal to the proportion of the velocity before collision to the velocity after collision. If the collision was elastic, e = 1. If the collision was perfectly inelastic, e = 0. The value of e is between 0.70 and 0.80.
Freudenrich, C. (n.d.). How the Physics of Football Works. In howstuffworks.com. Retrieved March 20, 2014
Concussions are an injury to the brain caused by bump, or blow to the head or body. They can occur even when you haven’t even been knocked unconscious. Concussions can not be seen, but you can notice when someone has received one. (Center for Disease Control). The symptoms are Headaches, nausea, vomiting, balance problems, blurry vision, and memory problems or confusion. Also difficulty paying attention, bothered by lights or loud noises and feeling sluggish are sure symptoms of a concussion. (CDC 2). Even though concussions can’t be fully prevented, scientists are doing their best to find ways to decrease the amount of concussions that happen per year.
Throughout the years, many sports have evolved from that of their beginning. Be it through rule changes, advances in the way people watch the game, advances in how they play the game, but this biggest one of all is the change in equipment. This is most commonly seen and heard about in American football. Due to all of the advances in the medical field and seeing the sports injuries that occur. Football had to adapt and change to the new standards of safety for the players with new and improved equipment to lessen the chance of long term damage.
Concussions have become arguably the #1 most prevalent issue in football today. The number of concussions throughout football has been rising for the past 20-30 years and there seems no way of stopping them. However, the NFL and many private researchers are set on finding a way to conquer this issue. They want to stop these concussions from happening and prevent the diseases resulting from them that have ruined so many football families’ lives. In order to solve this problem, I think that these researchers need to combine all of their knowledge to solve an issue that so many want solved. As soon as we conquer this “illness” we can return to enjoying the game that we love.
movement of the ball as it hits a hard surface. I will drop the ball 3
How can a concussion be prevented? What is the minimum time an athlete needs to be out of the game after a concussion? What are the chances of an athlete suffering post-traumatic stress disorders after a blow to the head? In all sports athletes are prone to injuries, they can happen at any time and at any given moment. Nevertheless, people that have suffered from a head injury or concussion will also have problems dealing with their learning processes in the long run.
Concussions occur regularly on the football field and have always been an injury associated with football. They occur at all levels from little league to the NFL. One of the earliest reported concussion...
A concussion is a head injury that can have damaging effects on athletes of all sports and ages. Concussions are regularly caused by a hard hit to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull. While there is fluid within the skull to protect the brain, when an athlete is hit hard enough, the brain moves to the point of hitting the skull, causing a head injury otherwise known as a concussion (“Concussions”). Terry Adirim, a medical doctor who writes articles for Clinical Pediatrician Emergency Magazine, says that an individual may have many different symptoms after receiving a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and vomiting, but each of these symptoms do not necessarily happen with every concussion.
Other factors that affect the behaviour of two bodies in contact when a collision is involved are momentum and elasticity. Linear momentum is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity. The total momentum present in a given system remains constant barring the action of external forces. Changes in momentum result from impulses, external forces acting over a time interval. The elasticity of an impact governs the amount of velocity present in the system following the impact. The relative elasticity of two affecting body is represented by the coefficient of restitutions.
This article goes into depth in the new technology updates made for the helmets in football. The head impact sensors are in use now in a lot of helmets. These sensors have the ability to provide information after a serious head impact to sports team doctors of the players status from the impact. The technology that is here today is a big improvement from where the helmets were in the 1900's. There are still studies that are underway to help to prevent head traumas and concussions to players on the field. These advances will also be in studies for other sports where the head would be impacted to serious injury.
Developers have to incorporate as many laws of physics as they can in order to make their game truly realistic. Collisions play a big part in any game - it wouldn't be very believeable to allow players to move through walls or objects. Some games take the collision and elasticity elements further, and create extremely elaborate physics engines that can handle, say, two cars colliding, and produce a believeable outcome to the collision. Games like F1 Championship Racing and GTA3 have excellent physics engines that feature some really impressive automobile simulations. Many old games simply use gravity and collision detection in their games, but more recent games involve much more complicated physics applications.