About that mystery curl- In the rotating stone, the right and left side have different relative speed (compared to the ice). This difference in speed may cause a difference in the prevalence of the lubricating liquid layer between the stone and the ice. If the theory holds, the fore ward rotating side would experience slightly higher lubricity while the aft ward rotating side would have slightly higher stiction (like your illustration with the comb). That would be huge if true and (almost) entirely demystifying.
My mom was a curler for 40 years, and worked her way up to "Skip" of a quite successful team. Watching my mom transform into a steely-eyed, strategist, physicist, warrior, and leader at the rink was just amazing. She traveled all around the US and Canada playing and often brought home the gold. RIP mom, you were amazing.
In our physics class, there is someone on the varsity curling team, who casually mentioned to the professor that curling has a lot of interesting physics. Low and behold, the exam had a very difficult question on curling. We are now devising an experiment to calculate the momentum transfer from my fist to his face...
11:05 It's because the granite is infused with unicorn blood. Which is why there are no more unicorns in Scotland. In spite of being their national animal.
I saw curling for the first time in the last Olympics and wondered, "Why is this in the Olympics?" One person throws a stone, and others sweep with brooms to change its direction, eventually landing it in the center. But I knew there had to be a strong reason. Now, I have clear information, and I'm most impressed by the sportmanship (the broom example) and the gentlemanly nature of the sport. Thanks for explaining it in detail. I hope the mysterious physics are resolved soon; may this video prompt many researchers, and, as you said, it might impact future space missions.
I'm a curler, and I just wanted to thank you for doing the sport justice. Every 4 years, I have to listen to people dump on the sport, calling it glorified housework, saying "I could do that", etc. People don't realise how much talent, strategy, and time goes into the game to actually be good. I have taught a ton of curling classes and the thing I have heard MOST from my students is "I didn't expect it to be that hard!"
Another reason curling is so great is that it can be played by all ages. In our club there are 13 year olds and 90 year olds (who sometimes play on the same team) and most of the players continue to get better with age, unlike most sports
I once got invited to curl in a charity event. It's a workout and a half. Walked like a robot the next day, There's some muscles used in curling that I didn't know existed.
Years ago, at the fire department, the general consensus was that curling was the lamest, dumbest thing ever to to hit the airwaves (or cable tv). By the end of the Olympics, the kitchen table was filled with pizza, nachos and wings as we sat and watched the curling events....We were hooked!
My younger brother, Aidan, is one of the curling Olympians on Team USA (the one with the headband throughout this video). I remember him telling me about your video shoot at trials.
Thank you for creating such a high quality and fresh look at the sport of curling. This will 100% be one of the videos I'll be recommending to all my friends asking about what's going on this Olympics.
Thank you for being a great ambassador and providing such a unique overview of the sport!
She just created the greatest Curling promotional video the sport could have ever dreamed of.
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Thank you for creating such a high quality and fresh look at the sport of curling. This will 100% be one of the videos I'll be recommending to all my friends asking about what's going on this Olympics.
Thank you for being a great ambassador and providing such a unique overview of the sport!