J Austral Math Soc Ser B 33 pp65--76, 1991.

A mathematical analysis of wind effects on a long-jumper

Neville de Mestre

(Received 10 April 1989; revised 17 August 1990)

Abstract

A perturbation model is used to predict the distance jumped by a long-jumper for a range of tailwinds and headwinds. The zeroth-order approximation is based on gravity being the only force present, the effects of drag and lift only being included in the first-order corrections. The difference in predicted distances produced by the zeroth and first-order approximations is less than 2% for headwinds or tailwinds up to 4 ms^-1. Most increases or decreases due to wind are caused by changes in the run-up speed, and consequently the take-off angle and speed.

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Author

Neville de Mestre: School of Information and Computer Sciences, Bond University Qld.

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Last Modified: Sun Jan 27 17:24:39 2002