Phyiscs of Skiing

            Force ñ The two forces acting on a skier are air resistence and gravity. Gravitational force on an inclined plane is directed toward the center of Earth. The perpendicular force to the mountain is the weight of the skier, and the parallel force is the net force of the force of the acceleration of terminal velocity and the skier as mass.
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             Velocity ñ Velocity of a skier is the direction and the speed of the skier. A racer who can determine his velocity is able to compare the velocity of his competitors and his past records. Terminal velocity is when the force of gravity equals the drag force, also known as air resistence. When this occurs, the skier has a constant velocity. When racing, a skier increases his/her terminal velocity by decreasing air resistance. To do this, the skier wears tight, smooth clothing with a streamlined helment, and the skier positions him/herself into as tight a ball as possible.
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             Displacement ñ Displacement is the measure of a straight line from the starting point to the finishing point. In skiing, this is known as the fall line. When someone skis down the fall line, it is called schuassing.
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             Vectors ñ If a skier is to turn (which is known as traversing) the skier could find their overall velocity of each individual turn by calculating vectors. Vectors are line segments drawn to represent both the magnitude and the direction of the quantity. You can add vectors by placing the head of one of the vectors to the tail of another vector. The third vector is the sum of the two vectors, or the resultant. Once the skier knows the velocity of the point when they are either perpendicular or diagonal to the slope of the mountain and the angle of their turn, the skier can then use the tangent of the angle of turn multiplied by the vector quantity of the position vector to figure out the resultant velocity of the turn.