Real-Life Math
Aggressive inline skaters love to jump in the air and spin and twirl.
Especially when they hit the ramps! But they don't just race towards the ramp
and hope for the best. They approach the ramp knowing what they're going to
do. And what they're going to do often involves spinning in some fashion.
Those spins require some calculation in order to be successful.
Figure
out how many degrees each of the following skaters turns while in the air.
Josie
approaches a ramp and rockets to the top. At the top of the ramp, she launches
into the air, spins around one-and-a-half times so she comes down the ramp
facing forward. How many degrees did she spin?
Makaio wants
to do the same trick as Josie. He zooms confidently up the same ramp, but
loses courage at the top, worrying that he'll wipe out. He lands the trick
but without the full spin in the air. Like Josie, he comes down the same side
of the ramp facing forward. How many degrees did Makaio turn?
James is
a really good skater with a new trick under his belt to show the others. He
heads up the ramp, shoots high into the air and spins around twice. How many
degrees did he turn?
Chloe's trick is a little different. She
plans to skate up one side of the ramp, spin once to the right, and go down
the other side, still facing forward. Unfortunately, she doesn't get enough
air and ends up facing sideways with her right skate in front, causing her
to wipe out. How many degrees did Chloe turn? How many degrees did she mean
to turn?
"Math definitely comes into play when you are a skater,"
says skater Layla Quinones. "The fundamentals of physics are
in play when you skate. You try to calculate where to land, how to land, what
muscles to use to absorb the impact while maintaining enough kinetic energy
to roll away."