The Physics in Snowboarding

Snowboarding has been enjoyed by sports enthusiasts since 1964, when it was discovered by Sherman Poppen. Sherman Poppen discovered the idea of snowboarding when he created a new toy by combining a pair of skis using screws. The first name given to this sport before it was called ‘Snowboarding’ was ‘Snurfers’, which combined both the words snow and surfer into one. Jake Burton, who was a snurfer rider, said that the snurfer was not a snowboard, because it had no bindings that would hold the feet to the board. He found out that the boards edges needed to be smooth, but also sharp, so

that riders could stop quickly, in case the snow was more like ice. Because Burton had better engineering ideas, in 1977 he began producing his own boards, which are still popular to this day (Voje 2).

There are many things that snowboarders need to realize while looking to buy a new snowboard. Some of these things are how long it is compared to ones height, the width of the board compared to ones foot size, the boots, the bindings and lastly, the leash, which allows the snowboarder to still be attached to their board if the boot comes out of the binding on the way down the hill.

Out of all of the previously stated products, the most important of all of them is the wax. Wax is used on the board not only to help the board stay clean, sharp, and smooth, but the wax helps the snowboarder to go faster on the snow because it reduces the friction between the board and the snow. Friction is a force that causes not only heat, but negative acceleration. Friction creates a positive reaction when two elements are thrust together vigorously. In the case of snowboarding, the snowboard is the first element and the snow is the second element that creates movement. The force exerted on the snowboarder is both his/her weight and the support force. These two forces combined result into acceleration as the person glides down the mountain towards the bottom. Because friction is still...