The Physics Behind Gymnastics, Explained (Vaults, Tumbles and Flips) | WIRED

Emily Kuhn, a former gymnast and current physics PhD student at Yale University, explains all the math behind the amazing flips and turns we see during the Olympic gymnastics competitions. Emily explains why "The Biles" tumbling routine is so difficult as well as the types of forces acting on these gymnasts every time they use the uneven bars.


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[madzredfox_]

as a physics student, I'm actually surprised that I never got a scenario or problem relating to gymnastics. This was really interesting!

[lucazsy]

In this event, she earned many connection points for linking math, physics and the sport. On top of that, she aknowledged the limitations of her calculations, which is welcomed by this judge panel (me). However, I'm gonna deduct 0.8 pts for the pen color. It is hard to see what is being written. Therefore, the final score is my like.

[COBbabygirl]

Shannon Miller's (Mag 7, 1996) father was a physics professor in Oklahoma and he used videos of Shannon doing gymnastics to teach.

[celloJesus]

I've been itching to use gymnastics in my science lectures, so I thoroughly enjoyed this video.

[TheDanaYiShow]

I did not expect to be entertained by so much physics, but I loved it!
Also "we're going to approximate her twisting as if she were a rod" ah yes, I love approximations 😂😂

[lumieresaint-claire]

I love bio mechanics so much . Makes me even more thrilled that someone is applying these formulas to a sport I coach and used to be apart of.

[llydrsn]

Science is a fun subject by itself. The problem usually lies in how it is communicated. If the teacher inundates the students with equations without relating how it is applied in the real world, the lesson tends to get lost and you have a room full of disinterested people asking "why do I need to learn y=mx + b? How will it help me pay my bills?"

[MsAdlerHolmes]

It amazes me, hearing these number - like how many G's they're experiencing in self propelled maneuvers - that Russians never flagged gymnasts for space programs.

[tejaspai]

this video helped me to recollect all the formulas and helped to solve some of the problems plz make more videos in which education to people

[MmMm-sruh]

ms girl did more math in this video than i’ve ever done in my life

[cecilys]

I’m a xcel silver/level 4 gymnast and I don’t understand how we do it. Like we just throw ourselves in the air and hope we land. I don’t think about the physics

[desiright]

Emily, I vote this counts as your comp exam for candidacy- thanks for walking us through this!

[damioncjm]

I wish they had used a better a colour marker and or graphics over these sections I could better see the equations albeit I still wouldn't understand them. But at least I could try

[SociallyDistantnow]

On god, if teachers would have used these types of lessons to teach various subjects, I would’ve paid attention in class.

[sofiavelardez]

this video really shows my current crisis: idk if i want to be the gymnast or the physicist😕

[kevinsam]

Im a business student, and i always sucked at physics, but i was so entertained to learn about how much physics goes into these skills.

[oguzsamsa]

man... i wish we could replace football with gymnastics.

[Nick-wpqy]

I didn’t expect to get a review for high school physics 🤔

[EngineeredChannel]

I'm glad she used a meter conversion despite putting feet in her formula. I had to double check with the mismatched units.

[jansonwoodlee]

Omg Emily would you please do one for this quad with Simone's new YDP vault!?!?! AMAZING CONTENT THANK YOU