Introduction
Physics define the rules by which we live our physical existence. Many of us go about our day to day lives without any true understanding of the Laws which govern how we interact with our surroundings. Physics is our way of making sense of the forces which act upon us and shape the way we accomplish even the most menial of tasks. From walking to driving to playing a game of catch, anyone can see physics in action.
A computer game programmer must take a special look at the forces at work around us. The programmers who code flight simulators, first person shooters, and similar games, often need to model their virtual world as closely as possible to our own. In this project we will look at the first person combat simulator called "Tribes™", by Dynamix. We will focus mainly on projectile motion, but we will also discuss the challenges the programmers had in computing ranges for projectiles, friction, and momentum. Also touched on, will be how they succeeded and failed in their efforts.
Challenges
In Tribes™, the programmers had to create an environment for the players. The challenge is to model our real life Laws of physics as accurately as possible. However, programmers are not physicists and it would take a super computer to accurately model all physics in a real world environment. This environment includes a variable gravity. This was important to game play in that the programmers could now make different worlds for the players to fight in. A planet of different mass will obviously have a different gravity. The following equation shows the horizontal range of a projectile, R = (V²o / g) * sin(2Ø) (Halliday, et al 60-64). Where R is the range, Vo is the initial velocity, g is gravity, and Ø is the angle the projectile is fired at. It is easy to see from the equation that a change in gravity will affect the total horizontal range achievable by a projectile. An interesting note is that a 45 degree angle will provide the maximum horizontal range for the projectile, no matter what the force of gravity is. (Assuming gravity does not equal zero).
We are neglecting air resistance in our calculations, as did the makers of Tribes™. When the programmers did this however, they got some unexpected, yet fun results. While projectile motion was not affected greatly, a person flying in the game could reach insane speeds, as there was no terminal velocity.
The Reason that people need a tank when they play paintball is because you need a way to force the paintballs out of the gun and this cannot be achieved effectively by just using a spring. What they decided to do was to fuel the paintballs by pushing them with a gas. The way in which they did this was to put the gases, either Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide or Nitrogen under extreme pressure until they turned into a liquid and once they are in a liquid form they can be blown into a tank which probably looks something like this.
There are three main areas of paintball that I will be analyzing. First the way in which a paintball leaves the barrel of a paintball marker. Second the way in which a paintball fly's through the air and lastly how to determine optimum ranges for paintballs.
The airmobility concept is one of Army Aviation’s most prominent battlefield innovations, almost single handedly shaping the Vietnam War and in many ways, helping to influence how we fight wars today. In its essence, airmobility is a concept that utilizes Army aircraft in order to enhance the ground forces’ ability to perform the five fundamentals of combat: command and control, firepower, intelligence, mobility, and communications (Rottman, 2007). At the zenith of the airmobility concept is the airmobile assault or commonly known today as, the air assault. The airmobile assault was more than just moving troops from point A to point B; it involved intense planning and preparation. When implemented correctly, the airmobile assault provided light infantry greater mobility on the battlefield, along with the ability to seize the initiative and to synchronize attacks.
Many people are amazed with the flight of an object, especially one the size of an airplane, but they do not realize how much physics plays a role in this amazing incident. There are many different ways in which physics aids the flight of an aircraft. In the following few paragraphs some of the many ways will be described so that you, the reader, will realize physics at work in the world of flight.
A famous saying for many golfers is, “golf is the most enjoyable walk that can be had in two hours”; even though many people disagree with this and say it is, “the worst walk in two hours.” Still, over time many people have had the opportunity to play, learn, and enjoy the beauty of golf courses around the world. Many golfers know that the game of golf requires mental and physical aptitude with hours of practice in order to be proficient at the game. Furthermore, since golf is a sport played in the physical world, the entire game can be explained and actually improved by many principles in Physics. Understanding the principles of Physics in the swing of the golf club, golf ball, collision of the golf club with the golf ball, flight of the golf ball, and putting can help a player shave off points to make the “enjoyable walk” more tolerable.
There are a few different physics engines that programmers use now for their games. There are 2 main physics engines that programmers use: Havok, and Math Engine.
This paper will explain a few of the key concepts behind the physics of skydiving. First we will explore why a skydiver accelerates after he leaps out of the plane before his jump, second we will try and explain the drag forces effecting the skydiver, and lastly we will attempt to explain how terminal velocity works.
Kirkpatrick, Larry, and Gerald F. Wheeler. Physics: A World View. 4th ed. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001.
According to mechanical physics, a force is an effect that may cause a body to accelerate. Also as stated in Isaac Newton’s second law of motion, force is a vector quantity (has magnitude and direction) that is proportional to the product of the mass of a body and its acceleration.
Physics is everywhere. Consequently, physics is a part of sports and more specifically, hockey. As the scientific discoveries progressed with time, so did the advancements in the sport of hockey, reflecting on how important and influential science truly is. Physics takes part in the ice, the skates, the protective gear, the shots, goaltending, and all other aspects of ice hockey.
Game developers use physics engines to simulate the physics effects in their games. What's a physics engine? A physics engine is a specialized piece of software specifically designed to integrate the laws of physics into a game.
The world consists of many phenomena. Some of them are mysteries to us as human beings, while many others can be explained. Progressively over the centuries, science has helped us to better understand the spectacular things that physically affect the human race and the earth. Almost every single thing that deals with the physical aspect of our existence can now be explained through physics, which in turn helps us to better understand our surrounding environment. Where I have always been involved in sports, I am very interested in the specific physics that each sport consists of. One such sport that fascinates me is the high jump, and for this reason I am going to delve into the physics of the high jump and break it down to explain the different laws and physics that encompass it. The high jump can be broken down into three stages: the run up phase or approach, the take off phase, and the flight or bar clearance phase. By understanding these three stages and the different laws of physics that make them up, one will have a much greater understanding of the high jump and its mechanics. In order to begin this analysis, I need to start with the very first stage of the high jump, which is the approach or run up phase.
Physics can be found in all aspects of our lives and the world around us including the activities in which we find the most enjoyment. They may not be noticeable to the naked eye or even to our senses but they are there and when we become familiar with the concepts of physics then we began to ‘see’ physics everywhere.
What is aerodynamics? The word comes from two Greek words aerios concerning the air, and dynamis, meaning powerful. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air. Humans have been interested in aerodynamics and flying for thousands of years, although flying in a heavier-than-air machine has been possible only in the last hundred years. Aerodynamics affects the motion of a large airliner, a model rocket, a beach ball thrown near the shore, or a kite flying high overhead. The curve ball thrown by big league baseball pitchers gets its curve from aerodynamics.
In this assessment of the projectile motion of an object, I found that it can be applied to many useful situations in our daily lives. There are many different equations and theorems to apply to an object in motion to either find the path of motion, the displacement, velocity, acceleration, and time of the object in the air.