Well, that may have been a bit dramatic, but haven't you ever wondered how those divers in the olympic manage to do those crazy twists and flips? Thanks to physics, I now have the answer. Prepare yourself.
HARD WORK!
Na, I'm just kidding, that's important, but it has nothing to do with physics.
These spins relate to something called Rotational Inertia, which is how much an object is willing to spin.
The magic in these flips is the positioning of the hands of the divers. When they are flipping they tuck their arms close to their body, bringing their mass closer to center, decreasing their rotational inertia and making them spin fast enough to complete the turns.
Hi Becca, it's Kat. What a neat resource! I'll never watch diving in the same way again.
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